Everyone seems to complain that no single guide book can do it all for
Arizona - too many migrating birds, too many different environments. I
believe there are more than 450 birds on the Arizona Checklist, so a
general guide to North American and/or Western American birds might be
your best bet... certainly don't leave home without one (Kaufman,
Sibley, National Geo, etc.), however, it would be good to augment that
with one or more local guides for their ease of use, if limited
coverage.

While we were in Arizona, we used, besides our Sibley's guides, two
second-hand guide books: first the easy-to-use 50 Common Birds of the
Southwest, an inexpensive pamphlet similar to but smaller than the
Familiar Birds of the Northwest (Portland Audubon), and, the now out-
of-print DESERTS (National Audubon Society Nature Guide) which was
handy not just for its bird section (90 species in its color plates),
but for its general guide to deserts including the differences between
the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, Mojave and Great Basin environments.

However, neither of these offered much information on the many (14-18)
kinds of hummingbirds which you might see if you were very, very
lucky, so I would suggest searching out a specialized guide for them.
That's my plan when we go back. I am considering the Hummingbirds of
Texas: with NM & AZ Ranges for that purpose.

Also, I don't have a copy yet so I can't recommend it from personal
experience, but I do plan on purchasing the Birds of Southeastern
Arizona published in 2010 for our next trip. It is supposed to cover
most of the state and references 400 species including the rarer ones
from Mexico. That might be your best option, too.

Hope this helps.
Patty Kennedy
Gig Harbor



On Mar 13, 2012, at 12:01 PM, tweeters-
request at mailman1.u.washington.edu wrote:

> Message: 8
> Date: Mon, 12 Mar 2012 23:40:01 -0700
> From: Dayna Yalowicki <dlwicki at frontier.com>
> Subject: [Tweeters] Southwest bird book
> To: "tweeters at u.washington.edu" <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
> Message-ID: <89BA6B79-CC2A-4486-A6FF-8DC352750BBF at frontier.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
>
> I've just returned from a stay with friends in the Phoenix area.
> Turns out, my host has become interested in birds since moving there
> and we talked at length about southwest birds. Can anyone recommend
> a good book on birds of this area?
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