Urban Nature

Yet another Arizona bird. We have common grackles here but they are smaller and have shorter tails. These great-tailed grackles were everywhere I went in the Phoenix area. Like our local common grackles I found them to be quite a noisy bird with a similar grackle call.  The photo above and below is a female.  The last two photos are of a male great-tailed grackle.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

These quail were really difficult to photograph – they just don’t sit still AT ALL !  I saw them in a fair number of areas darting in and out of ground cover . They travelled in small groups.  I think this Arizona bird should have been called a road runner -

The decorative feather on the head is called a topknot according to my reference book.

Enjoy!

~Sharon

Yet another Arizona bird that I was fortunate to find. This one down the lane from where I was staying . My reference book says it is characteristic of Saguaro woodlands and there are plenty of those areas around Phoenix.

Enjoy!

~Sharon