The Orioles and the Redstart: Migrating Birds in Phoenix

A sure sign that spring migration is underway was my sighting a pair of hooded orioles in my Phoenix neighborhood last weekend. His flash of bright yellow swooping into a treetop identified the male, while only her presence accompanying the male initially pointed out the female. They passed through quickly, pausing only long enough for me to get several lucky shots.

The couple joined a list of songbird migrations that started with a flock of cedar waxwings in my community two weeks earlier. While the waxwings will travel to Canada for breeding, the orioles could actually stick around Phoenix to build their nests after wintering not too far away in Mexico. I've not been fortunate in seeing one of the latter species' elaborate nests that appear like a hanging basket often descending from a tall palm tree.

Eager to encounter additional migrating birds, I headed on Monday to the Rio Salado Restoration Area near downtown Phoenix. Bordering the Salt River, which was flowing unusually strongly that day, the parkland encompasses a five-mile long corridor of restored native habitat. I soon encountered a male black-tailed gnatcatcher sporting his black cap breeding plumage as the year-round resident poked through a mesquite tree.

Lower on the trail closer to the river, sweet tweets and flitting movements high in a cottonwood tree drew my attention. The bird was a painted redstart, a species I've only ever encountered in mountain forests in Madera Canyon and at high elevations around Prescott. While the individual's presence could be the occasional case of a redstart wintering in Phoenix, there's an excellent chance that it's stopping over during its spring migration from Mexico or Central America to Arizona's northern forests for summer breeding.

Orioles and a redstart, two migrating bird species over two days and in less than twenty-four hours, during splendid weather, and along some convenient city paths. Now that's an easy start to rewarding springtime birding!