Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory's Banning Creek Field Station

In September 2002, SABO moved its office from the Border Region Business Incubator at 1 Main Street in Bisbee's historic district to a small cabin in Banning Creek Canyon, in the Mule Mountains just north of Bisbee. The cabin served for a time as the home of former SABO naturalist Rob Hunt, and sightings at Rob's feeding station attracted considerable attention from the birding community. When Rob made the difficult decision to move on, he suggested that SABO rent the cabin, move its office there, and take over maintenance of the feeding station. With the permission of the landowner, SABO has developed the site as its office and primary field station.

Visitors are welcome year round. Outdoor viewing of the feeding station is available anytime; limited indoor viewing of the feeders is available when staff or volunteers are present. Other parts of the property are not open to visitors; please respect the privacy of the landowner and other tenants. There is no charge for admission, but donations are gratefully accepted to help maintain the feeding station and other visitor amenities. Due to limited parking and seating, groups of 10 or more should contact SABO by phone (520-432-1388) or e-mail to make reservations.

Driving Directions

From Bisbee: Take Hwy 80 West (north); the turn-off will be on the left 2 miles past the Mule Pass Tunnel.

From the north (Sierra Vista, Tombstone, or Benson): Take Hwy 80 East (south); the turn-off will be on the right 4.2 miles past the intersection with Hwy 90, just past a broad, gravel pull-out on the right shoulder of the highway with an Adopt-a-Highway sign and a sign saying "ICE MAY BE PRESENT" (may be folded into a silver triangle).

From both directions: The field station is on Hidden Meadow Lane, a private road marked by a white street sign and a flagpole (with or without a flag) protruding above the trees. Continue past a fancy gate on the left and through a less conspicuous gate and across a bridge to the light blue and white cabin, which is SABO's office. Parking is on the right side of the driveway on either side of the picnic table and propane tank. CAUTION: The road is steep, narrow, and overhung with trees. Visitors driving RVs longer than 20 feet or vehicles with trailers must park in the highway pullout and walk down to the field station.

The habitat surrounding SABO's office is an interesting blend of oak woodland with shrubs and trees more typical of lower elevations as well as plants found primarily in dry, rocky canyons such as this. The birds and other wildlife of the site reflect the diversity of this transition zone. Birds observed on the site include Inca and White-winged doves, White-throated Swift, Elf Owl, Canyon Wren, Bridled Titmouse, Mexican and Steller's jays, Western Scrub-Jay, Curve-billed Thrasher, Pyrrhuloxia, Canyon and Spotted towhees, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, Scott's Oriole, and Lesser Goldfinch. Mammals of the area include Ringtail, Striped and Hog-nosed skunks, Javelina (a.k.a. Collared Peccary), and Coues's White-tailed Deer. An added attraction is the property's outstanding view of Escondido Falls (right), a seasonal waterfall on property owned by The Nature Conservancy. For those lucky enough to be present when the falls are flowing, (only a few days each year, after heavy rain or snowmelt), the sight is unforgettable.

Moving SABO's office from downtown Bisbee to Banning Creek Canyon was not without some sacrifices. Besides a prestigious and highly visible location at 1 Main Street, the Border Region Business Incubator provided DSL Internet access, some office equipment and services, and prepaid utilities. Our office (left) presents all the challenges you'd expect from a rustic cabin in the woods, including poor insulation, a leaky roof, and uninvited animal guests in the kitchen. Our landlord reduced SABO's rent temporarily in consideration of the financial burden of making the building safe and comfortable, and thanks to donations and the work of volunteers and staff some progress has been made.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird female on nest © 2002 Sheri Williamson Violet-crowned Hummingbird chicks © 2002 Tom Wood	The feeding station at Banning Creek boasts a wide variety of hummingbirds, including Broad-billed, Lucifer, and Costa's, but the Violet-crowned is the crown jewel. A few of these large hummingbirds are year-round residents in the Mule Mountains, as they are over much of their range in Mexico. In early August 2002, a female Violet-crowned built a nest on a fallen agave stalk (left) a few yards behind the cabin. Unfortunately, the nest was lost in a thunderstorm, but a new nest in a dense oak overhanging Banning Creek produced two fledglings (below, a few days prior to fledging) in late September.

	Winter and early spring rains created good nesting conditions for Violet-crowned Hummingbirds in 2005. The bird pictured at left was one of at least three youngsters that visited the feeding station during the summer. The pale edges on some of the body and wing feathers are a telltale sign of youth, and the amount of red on the bill at this young age (similar to that on the adult female above) may indicate a male. At least one young member of the "Class of 2005," perhaps this individual, has been heard to sing a primitive version of the species' sputtery, squeaky song, which has so far been recorded only in males. Violet-crowned Hummingbird © 2005 Tom Wood
Though most hummingbirds leave southeastern Arizona in winter, Violet-crowned Hummingbirds are year-round residents in the Mule Mountains. Both natural vegetation and ornamental trees and shrubs provide cover essential for weathering the occasional winter storm. The adult male at right was photographed at the station in mid-December of 2002 and remained through the winter. At least two individuals spent the winters of 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 at the field station. Note that there is no red dye in the feeder solution. It's unnatural (flower nectar is colorless), not necessary to attract the birds, and may be harmful to their health. For more information on selecting and maintaining feeders, see SABO's Hummingbird F.A.Q.s. Violet-crowned Hummingbird © 2002 Sheri Williamson

Though usually associated with the Big Bend country of Texas, the Lucifer Hummingbird (male, left) is a regular, though uncommon, summer resident in southeastern Arizona. The Mule Mountains are an excellent location for the species, with the sort of rocky slopes with scattered trees, shrubs, and cacti that they prefer. In 2003, the first Lucifer, a male, arrived at the field station on April 1, followed by a female on April 11. In 2004, the first Lucifer of the year appeared on March 25. The male at left was photographed at the feeding station on April 8, 2003 by SABO volunteer Alice Wilcox.

A close-up of the head highlights the male's long, decurved bill and shaggy purple gorget. The rosy glow visible on the breast is mainly reflection from the bright red surface of a feeder, but even adult males have a warm creamy tone to their pale underparts and a touch of cinnamon mixed into their green "vests." Females and juvenile males are extensively tawny below with bright rusty bases to their outer tail feathers.

It's hard to know whether early naturalist William Swainson saw anything devilish about this species that inspired its name, but "lucifer" means "light bearer" in Greek. The genus name Calothorax is Greek for "beautiful breast."

Next to hummingbirds, the most colorful of Banning Creek Canyon's summer residents are the orioles. Scott's Oriole (male, left) is most often seen, visiting the feeding station for fruit and suet, singing from the tops of nearby oaks, and sometimes building their woven nests in Schott's Yuccas near the parking area. Their songs resemble those of Western Meadowlarks, with rich flute-like notes. Females are olive yellow with dusky wings and tail, often with dark mottling on the throat or a diffuse "hood" of dusky olive.

Less often seen around the feeding station are Hooded Orioles, males of which have an orange "hood" and black "necktie," and and Bullock's Orioles, the western cousin of the famous Baltimore Oriole. Telling females of these two species apart can be tricky, but look for the longer, decurved bill of the Hooded and the grayish belly of the Bullock's. All three species of orioles typically arrive in the Mule Mountains mid-March and stay into early fall.

The massive bill of the well-named Black-headed Grosbeak (right) is perfect for crushing hard seed hulls to get at the nutritious kernel inside, but these handsome birds also include fruit and insects in their natural diet. They visit SABO's feeding station for oranges, suet dough, and peanut butter as well as sunflower seeds and water. During migration in late April and early May, they're often the second most common feeder visitor (next to the ubiquitous House Finches); as many as 40 have been seen at one time through the viewing room windows. A few remain through the summer, nesting in the dense oaks along the canyon bottom. Only adult males have the full black hood; females and immature males have striped heads.

The Bridled Titmouse is a common year-round resident of southeastern Arizona's oak woodlands, but they're shy and standoffish compared to their eastern counterparts. It took more than a year for the titmice of Banning Creek Canyon to accept the feeders as a resource, but now they visit them regularly through the winter. In 2004, we installed several nest boxes around the field station, including three handcrafted by SABO member Margaret Dykeman. Margaret's chickadee-sized model was installed a few yards from the cabin door, where we could monitor it from the back office. In 2005, a pair set up housekeeping in this box and raised 5 chicks (left).

Though there's seed a-plenty at the feeding station, many birds find water the more attractive resource in this arid climate. A Spotted Towhee (right) is one of many species that take advantage of both. This distinctively marked western form and its black-backed eastern counterpart were until recently considered the same species, the Rufous-sided Towhee. Canyon Towhees are also residents, while Green-tailed Towhees are visitors from fall through spring. Other sparrows include Rufous-crowned (below), Lincoln's (below), Chipping, and various forms of Dark-eyed Juno. A Golden-crowned Sparrow was an unusual visitor in the early winter of 2002.

Near the opposite end of the sparrow spectrum from the Spotted Towhee is the Lincoln's Sparrow (left). What this bird lacks in size and visual punch it makes up in attitude, often driving larger species such as White-crowned Sparrows away from trays of millet. The "little brown jobs" are always tough to identify, but habitat is a useful first clue. The Song Sparrow and Swamp Sparrow are superficially similar to Lincoln's in overall pattern but wouldn't be expected in such dry habitat as this. These and other issues are covered in SABO's "Sparrow-phobics Anonymous" Workshop each winter.

The Rufous-crowned Sparrow (left) is a largish species of mountain slopes. It's often seen in silhouette, peering from the top of rock outcroppings at the humans invading its strongholds. Though not dramatic in color or markings, its narrow black and white "moustaches" and crisp white eye ring are quite attractive.

Few publicly-accessible feeding stations are in the proper habitat to attract this species, but Rufous-crowneds are regular visitors to the feeders and water features at Banning Creek Field Station. In winter, they can be seen scratching through the oak leaf litter under the leaves of agaves along with the towhees, juncos, and other sparrows.

Rufous-crowned Sparrow by Sheri Williamson

With its gray head and underparts and brown back, the Black-chinned Sparrow (right) looks like a cross between a junco and a more typical sparrow. As is so often the case with birds, the sporty black goatee for which the species is named is mainly a "guy thing" and is more prominent in the breeding season. A rare to locally common permanent resident on arid mountain slopes in southeastern Arizona, southwestern New Mexico, and westernmost Texas, it breeds as far north as central New Mexico and Arizona, the southwestern corner of Utah, southernmost Nevada, and north-central California. Very little is known of its habits.

These shy birds have discriminating tastes. Though they will visit feeding stations for water, they seem to prefer native grass seeds to sunflower seeds. To encourage Black-chinneds to make regular appearances at SABO's feeding station, we've added small seed mixes and millet sprays to the menu.

In late March and early April, Elf Owls return to the Mule Mountains. At least three pairs raise their families in the vicinity of the field station, and these tiny raptors are the stars of SABO's Mule Mountain Owl Prowls. In preparation for the nesting season, pairs engage in a ritual that reassures the female of her mate's ability to provide for her and their nestlings during the next few weeks. Shortly after sunset, the male announces his arrival at the pair's chosen nest cavity with a series of chuckling yips. The female leaves the nest and joins her mate in the oaks, where he will bring her food such as moths, beetles, and giant centipedes.

The admittedly poor image at right was taken with a digital camera through a spotting scope while the owl was illuminated by a large flashlight and the rapidly fading sunset. To reduce impacts on the birds' behavior, we do not use recordings or high-power spotlights on Owl Prowls.

Elf Owl female at Banning Creek Field Station

SABO's Banning Creek Field Station

Photos by Tom Wood & Sheri Williamson
(except as noted)

Driving Directions

All photos, graphics, and text on these pages are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

SABO's Banning Creek Field Station

Photos by Tom Wood & Sheri Williamson (except as noted)

Driving Directions

All photos, graphics, and text on these pages are copyrighted and may not be used without permission.

Photos by Tom Wood & Sheri Williamson
(except as noted)