Gila County Research

This is a little research I have done with combining eBird, AZFO, Steve Ganley's historical database on AZFO, and Kurt Radamaker's county checklist on AZFO for what birds have been recorded in Gila County.  The one task I have remaining is a time consuming one, and it would be to read through the past Arizona Bird Committee Published Reports.  From what I have found so far, 379 species have been recorded in Gila County.

Birds of Gila County, Arizona

Ducks, Geese, and Swans
_Snow Goose
_Ross's Goose
_Greater White-fronted Goose
_Cackling Goose
_Canada Goose
_Tundra Swan
_Wood Duck
_Blue-winged Teal
_Cinnamon Teal
_Northern Shoveler
_Gadwall
_American Wigeon
_Eurasian Wigeon
_Mallard
_Mexican Duck
_Northern Pintail
_Green-winged Teal
_Canvasback
_Redhead
_Ring-necked Duck
_Greater Scaup
_Lesser Scaup
_Black Scoter
_Surf Scoter
_White-winged Scoter
_Long-tailed Duck (Roosevelt Lake, Troy Corman, 13 Jan 2014)
_Bufflehead
_Common Goldeneye
_Hooded Merganser
_Common Merganser
_Red-breasted Merganser
_Ruddy Duck

Turkey and Quail
_Wild Turkey
_Gambel's Quail
_Montezuma Quail
_Scaled Quail

Grebes
_Pied-billed Grebe
_Red-necked Grebe
_Horned Grebe
_Eared Grebe
_Western Grebe
_Clark's Grebe

Pigeons and Doves
_Rock Pigeon
_Band-tailed Pigeon
_Eurasian Collared-Dove
_Inca Dove
_Common Ground-Dove
_Ruddy Ground-Dove (Nov 21st, 1989-upstream from Roosevelt Lake)
_White-winged Dove
_Mourning Dove

Cuckoos
_Greater Roadrunner
_Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Nighthawks and Nightjars
_Lesser Nighthawk
_Common Nighthawk
_Common Poorwill
_Mexican Whip-poor-will
_Eastern Whip-poor-will (Caleb informed me of ABC accepted record from Gila)

Swifts
_Vaux's Swift
_White-throated Swift

Hummingbirds
_Rivoli's Hummingbird
_Black-chinned Hummingbird
_Anna's Hummingbird
_Costa's Hummingbird
_Broad-tailed Hummingbird
_Rufous Hummingbird
_Calliope Hummingbird
_Broad-billed Hummingbird

Rails, Coots, and Cranes
_Virginia Rail
_Sora
_Common Gallinule
_American Coot
_Purple Gallinule
_Sandhill Crane

Shorebirds: Plovers, Stilts, Avocets, Sandpipers, Phalaropes, and Allies
_Black-necked Stilt
_American Avocet
_Black-bellied Plover
_American Golden-Plover
_Snowy Plover
_Semipalmated Plover
_Killdeer
_Whimbrel
_Long-billed Curlew
_Marbled Godwit
_Sanderling (25 September 2009, San Carlos Lake, Phil Norton)
_Stilt Sandpiper
_Baird's Sandpiper
_Least Sandpiper
_Pectoral Sandpiper
_Semipalmated Sandpiper
_Western Sandpiper
_Dunlin
_Short-billed Dowitcher
_Long-billed Dowitcher
_Wilson's Snipe
_Wilson's Phalarope
_Red-necked Phalarope
_Red Phalarope (October 25th, 1991-Tonto Creek at Roosevelt Lake)
_Spotted Sandpiper
_Solitary Sandpiper
_Greater Yellowlegs
_Willet
_Lesser Yellowlegs

Jaegers
_Parasitic Jaeger
_Pomarine Jaeger

Gulls
_Sabine's Gull
_Bonaparte's Gull
_Laughing Gull
_Franklin's Gull
_Heerman's Gull
_Ring-billed Gull
_California Gull
_Herring Gull
_Lesser Black-backed Gull

Terns
_Least Tern
_Caspian Tern
_Black Tern
_Common Tern
_Forster's Tern

Loons
_Red-throated Loon
_Common Loon

Tropicbirds
_Red-billed Tropicbird (14 Aug 2014, East Verde River north of Payson by Thory Smith)

Storks
_Wood Stork

Cormorants
_Neotropic Cormorant
_Double-crested Cormorant

Pelicans
_American White Pelican
_Brown Pelican

Bitterns, Herons, and Egrets
_American Bittern (May 5th, 1990) Tonto Creek at Roosevelt Lake
_Least Bittern
_Great Blue Heron
_Great Egret
_Snowy Egret
_Reddish Egret
_Cattle Egret
_Green Heron
_Black-crowned Night-Heron

Ibises and Spoonbills
_White-faced Ibis
_Roseate Spoonbill

Vultures, Kites, Eagles, and Hawks
_Black Vulture
_Turkey Vulture
_Osprey
_White-tailed Kite
_Golden Eagle
_Mississippi Kite
_Northern Harrier
_Sharp-shinned Hawk
_Cooper's Hawk
_Northern Goshawk
_Bald Eagle
_Common Black-Hawk
_Harris's Hawk
_Gray Hawk
_Broad-winged Hawk
_Short-tailed Hawk
_Swainson's Hawk
_Zone-tailed Hawk
_Red-tailed Hawk
_Rough-legged Hawk
_Ferruginous Hawk

Owls:  Barn Owl and Typical Owls
_Barn Owl
_Flammulated Owl
_Western Screech-Owl
_Great Horned Owl
_Northern Pygmy-Owl
_Elf Owl
_Spotted Owl
_Long-eared Owl
_Northern Saw-whet Owl

Trogons
_Eared Quetzal
_Elegant Trogon

Kingfishers
_Belted Kingfisher

Woodpeckers
_Williamson's Sapsucker
_Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
_Red-naped Sapsucker
_Red-breasted Sapsucker
_Lewis's Woodpecker
_Acorn Woodpecker
_Gila Woodpecker
_American Three-toed Woodpecker
_Downy Woodpecker
_Ladder-backed Woodpecker
_Hairy Woodpecker
_Northern Flicker
_Gilded Flicker

Falcons
_American Kestrel
_Merlin
_Peregrine Falcon
_Prairie Falcon

Flycatchers
_Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet
_Olive-sided Flycatcher
_Greater Pewee
_Western Wood-Pewee
_Willow Flycatcher
_Hammond's Flycatcher
_Least Flycatcher (April 11th, 1979-Tonto Creek south of Punkin Center)
_Gray Flycatcher
_Dusky Flycatcher
_Pacific-slope Flycatcher
_Cordilleran Flycatcher
_Black Phoebe
_Eastern Phoebe
_Say's Phoebe
_Vermilion Flycatcher
_Dusky-capped Flycatcher
_Ash-throated Flycatcher
_Nutting's Flycatcher
_Brown-crested Flycatcher
_Tropical Kingbird
_Cassin's Kingbird
_Thick-billed Kingbird
_Western Kingbird
_Eastern Kingbird
_Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Vireos
_Bell's Vireo
_Gray Vireo
_Hutton's Vireo
_Cassin's Vireo
_Plumbeous Vireo
_YELLOW-THROATED VIREO (?-Well described in AZFO seasonal reports, this one on 14 May 2014 in a Payson yard, by Lee Estes)
_Warbling Vireo

Shrikes
_Loggerhead Shrike

Corvids
_Pinyon Jay
_Steller's Jay
_Blue Jay (30 March 2010, Washington Park Trailhead, George West)
_Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay
_Mexican Jay
_Clark's Nutcracker
_American Crow
_Chihuahuan Raven
_Common Raven

Chickadees, Titmice, Verdin
_Mountain Chickadee
_Juniper Titmouse
_Bridled Titmouse
_Verdin

Larks
_Horned Lark

Swallows
_Purple Martin
_Northern Rough-winged Swallow
_Tree Swallow
_Violet-green Swallow
_Bank Swallow
_Barn Swallow
_Cliff Swallow
_Cave Swallow

Bushtit and Kinglets
_Bushtit
_Golden-crowned Kinglet
_Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Nuthatches and Creepers
_Red-breasted Nuthatch
_White-breasted Nuthatch
_Pygmy Nuthatch
_Brown Creeper

Gnatcatchers
_Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
_Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

Wrens and Dippers
_Rock Wren
_Canyon Wren
_House Wren
_Winter Wren
_Pacific Wren
_Marsh Wren
_Bewick's Wren
_Cactus Wren
_American Dipper

Starlings
_European Starling

Catbirds, Mockingbirds, and Thrashers
_Gray Catbird
_Curve-billed Thrasher
_Bendire's Thrasher
_Brown Thrasher
_Crissal Thrasher
_Sage Thrasher
_Northern Mockingbird

Thrushes
_Eastern Bluebird
_Western Bluebird
_Mountain Bluebird
_Townsend's Solitaire
_Varied Thrush
_Swainson's Thrush
_Hermit Thrush
_American Robin
_Rufous-backed Robin

Waxwings and Silky-Flycatchers
_Cedar Waxwing
_Phainopepla

Olive Warbler
_Olive Warbler

Old World Sparrows
_House Sparrow

Pipits
_American Pipit
_Sprague's Pipit

Finches and Goldfinches
_Pine Grosbeak (August 19th 1986, record from Strawberry)
_Evening Grosbeak
_House Finch
_Purple Finch
_Cassin's Finch
_Red Crossbill
_Pine Siskin
_Lesser Goldfinch
_American Goldfinch
_Lawrence's Goldfinch

Longspurs
_Chestnut-collared Longspur
_Lapland Longspur

New World Sparrows
_Rufous-winged Sparrow
_Cassin's Sparrow
_Grasshopper Sparrow
_Chipping Sparrow
_Clay-colored Sparrow
_Brewer's Sparrow
_Black-chinned Sparrow
_Black-throated Sparrow
_Lark Sparrow
_Lark Bunting
_Fox Sparrow
_Dark-eyed Junco
_Yellow-eyed Junco
_White-crowned Sparrow
_Golden-crowned Sparrow
_Harris's Sparrow
_White-throated Sparrow
_Sagebrush Sparrow
_Vesper Sparrow
_Savannah Sparrow
_Song Sparrow
_Lincoln's Sparrow
_Swamp Sparrow
_Canyon Towhee
_Abert's Towhee
_Rufous-crowned Sparrow
_Green-tailed Towhee
_Spotted Towhee

Chats
_Yellow-breasted Chat

Icterids
_Yellow-headed Blackbird
_Western Meadowlark
_Eastern Meadowlark
_Orchard Oriole
_Hooded Oriole
_Bullock's Oriole
_Baltimore Oriole
_Scott's Oriole
_Red-winged Blackbird
_Bronzed Cowbird
_Brown-headed Cowbird
_Brewer's Blackbird
_Common Grackle
_Great-tailed Grackle

Wood Warblers
_Worm-eating Warbler
_Northern Waterthrush
_Golden-winged Warbler
_Black-and-white Warbler
_Tennessee Warbler
_Orange-crowned Warbler
_Lucy's Warbler
_Nashville Warbler
_Virginia's Warbler
_MacGillivray's Warbler
_Common Yellowthroat
_Hooded Warbler
_American Redstart
_Northern Parula
_Yellow Warbler
_Chestnut-sided Warbler
_MAGNOLIA WARBLER (???-in AZFO field checklist, need to find more info)
_PROTHONOTARY WARBLER (same as above)
_OVENBIRD (same as above Magnolia Warbler)
_Palm Warbler
_Yellow-rumped Warbler
_Grace's Warbler
_Black-throated Gray Warbler
_Black-throated Green Warbler
_Townsend's Warbler
_Hermit Warbler
_Wilson's Warbler
_Red-faced Warbler
_Painted Redstart

Tanagers
_Hepatic Tanager
_Summer Tanager
_Western Tanager

Cardinals, Grosbeaks, and Buntings
_Northern Cardinal
_Pyrrhuloxia
_Rose-breasted Grosbeak
_Black-headed Grosbeak
_Blue Grosbeak
_Lazuli Bunting
_Indigo Bunting
_Varied Bunting
_Dickcissel

 

Introduction:

Gila County is located in central Arizona.  Like many other Arizona counties, it holds tremendous birding opportunities because it harbors expansive, natural areas with a wide range of habitats and elevation.  A head-turning fact that many birders may be unaware of is that Gila County harbored the ABA's first Nutting's Flycatcher, has had wintering Eared Quetzal, and even has a hypothetical and well-described record of Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush.

True to a wide difference of Gila County's lowest elevations to it's highest summits, there have been a wide variety of birds that have been documented in the region so far.  379 bird species have been recorded in the county to-date.  Gila County is one that is off of the beaten path for most birders who visit Arizona and even for most of those who live in Arizona.  Out of the state's 15 counties, it is one of the most under-birded and it has many places that have yet to be explored or places that have very rarely been explored.  During the birding coverage that has taken place in Gila County so far, it has shown that Gila County has a wonderful diversity of bird life, but it also shows that there is still a lot of knowledge that remains to be learned about, and that there are many more birds to be discovered within the County.  This paper and checklist will give a summary of what's to be expected when birding in the County, what habitats are in the County, the potential of the County, and what birds have officially been recorded in Gila County so far.

Gila County has a size of 4.795 square miles and a population of just over 54,000 people according to a 2019 census.  The county seat is the city of Globe and the largest town and community in Gila County is the town of Payson.  Gila County was founded on February 8th, 1881 when it was formed from parts of neighboring Maricopa and Pinal Counties.  In 1890, the county had a population of just over two thousand people, and as of the 2019 census, it has grown to over 54,000 people.  Outside of the larger communities of the city of Globe and the town of Payson, are scattered smaller communities represented by several small towns and many census-designated places.  The Indian communities of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation, and the Tonto Apache, are also in Gila County.  On an Arizona scale, Gila County is Arizona's 11th biggest county in size, and it is also the 11th largest county in terms of residing human population.  This county is one that is heavily made up of an abundance of natural habitats.  The highest point in Gila County rises up at 7,490' at Promontory Butte, which is also shared with Coconino County at Gila County's northeastern border where the Mogollon Rim defines the southern border of the Colorado Plateau.  The 7,903' Mazatzal Peak and the 7,848' Pinal Peak are the second and third highest points of Gila County.  On the contrary, the lowest points in Gila County are in the 1,800'-1,920' range.  Two such points are at Apache Lake's north shoreline near the Maricopa County line and along the Gila River south of Winkleman near the Pinal County border.  

Criteria for inclusion on the checklist:

In assembling this checklist, there are several categories in which birds get accepted onto the checklist.  The birding community is vast, and birds are reported in different ways.  An overall scale of a rare bird in Gila County can come from a bird that is a statewide rarity in Arizona, or it can be from a bird that is local in Gila County and not rare in other parts of Arizona.

The base birds in the County are generally straightforward.  These birds are ones that have distribution in appropriate habitats throughout the region and are expected throughout the year.  This can come from breeding, migratory, and wintering species.  eBird is a great source of information to put together for a list of birds in Gila County that are regular in the region's habitats for starters.  The Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas is an outstanding source of information to see what birds were detected as breeding in Gila County during the atlas period, as well as for any other Arizona county. 

Aside from the expected base species come the rarities in the county.  They can be birds that aren't considered rare on a statewide, Arizona level, but are very rare in Gila County.  Examples of such species in Gila County are White-tailed Kite and Thick-billed Kingbird.  These such records have been documented with photographs or have had well-written descriptions for checklist inclusions.  The other rarities are sketch and review species as defined as Arizona statewide rarities by the Arizona Bird Committee.  Review species are the rarest of the two, and these bird species warrant careful documentation by photographs or well-written descriptions of the given species.  Examples of these review species include Red-billed Tropicbird, Wood Stork, Parasitic and Pomarine Jaegers, Eared Quetzal, Nutting's Flycatcher, and Golden-winged Warbler.  This list will include those records of review species that have been accepted by the Arizona Bird Committee, and more recent ones that haven't been officially reviewed but do have convincing photographs (ex: Lesser Black-backed Gull).  Sketch detail species are statewide Arizona rarities that aren't as rare as review species.  For inclusion, they need a photograph or a well-written report with good field notes.  Examples of sketch species include all three Scoter species, Sabine's Gull, Reddish Egret, Roseate Spoonbill, Eastern Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Lapland Longspur, and Hooded Warbler.  

Birds in Gila County that have been included on this list have come from a variety of sources that include the Arizona Breeding Bird Atlas, Arizona Field Ornithologists seasonal reports, past reports from the Arizona Bird Committee, Steve Ganley's historical sightings database on azfo.org, AZFO photo documentation, The Birds of Arizona, eBird, and reports by photographs through different Arizona-birding-themed Facebook groups.

One remarkable sight record from Gila County's Pinal Mountains was a well-described Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush.  It is the only report from Arizona to-date, and because of it's mega-rarity status and conclusion of suggestive-but-inconclusive evidence, it has been left as a hypothetical record.  Like the possible Nightingale-Thrush that remains as a mystery, Gila County has plenty of current mysteries yet to be unlocked due to it's limited coverage.

Also due to Gila County being as under-birded as it is, it is difficult to assess a status to many species in the county.  There may be a sketch or review species that show up in Arizona more regularly than others, but there may be one or two records in Gila County although there are likely to be more with more coverage.  Although labeling some of these birds as accidental are correct in record standards, the accidental label may very well be an understatement due to lack of coverage.  Gila County has many bird species that are likely to be found in the county that haven't been found in the county yet.  The answer to finding them is more coverage.

County Highlights:

In the elevation ranges from the lowpoint of roughly 1,800' to the highpoint of 7,940', Gila County has a diverse array of habitats.  Many habitats range widely in the county, such as ponderosa pine forest, ponderosa pine/Gambel's oak forest, mixed conifer forest, pinyon-pine/juniper woodland, interior chaparral, Sonoran desertscrub, montane riparian wetlands, interior and Sonoran riparian deciduous woodlands, and marsh lands and aquatic habitats.  Land habitats in Gila County are widespread and abundant, making up 4,758 square miles of Gila County's toal 4,795 square miles.  38 of Gila County's total square miles are filled with aquatic habitat.  Two large reservoirs, Roosevelt Lake on the Tonto National Forest and San Carlos Lake on the San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation account for a majority of the water source in the county.  Both reservoirs attract an astounding number of a variety of waterbirds annually, from common to rare.  Roosevelt Lake is almost entirely in Gila County and shares a tiny portion of the lake with Maricopa County.  San Carlos Lake falls within the corners of Gila, Pinal, and Graham Counties, with the largest bulk of the reservoir being in Gila County.  Western and Clark's Grebes breed at both lakes, and are both found in high densities throughout the year.  Many uncommon and rare species have been found at both lakes, and play a big role in the Gila County checklist.  Other habitats that are found in Gila County that help round out its diversity further but are distributed much-less than others are aspen forests, plains and semi-arid grasslands, Chihuahuan desertscrub, and agricultural habitats.  The county has more limited communities than many other Arizona counties, and man-made habitats are also somewhat limited.

One important aspect to building the Gila County list is birding different corners of the county or within habitats that are more limited than others.  Grasslands (both plains grassland and semi-arid grassland) are found in the county in small quantity.  While some grassland species like Sprague's Pipit and Lapland and Chestnut-collared Longspurs have been found, others like Thick-billed Longspur, Burrowing Owl, and Short-eared Owl, have not.  A Baird's Sparrow found in plains grassland habitat a few hundred feet into Navajo County came very close to Gila County during an expedition in 2019.  The southeastern tip of the county is found near Winkleman.  Along and near the Gila River near Winkleman, Varied Bunting, Black Vulture, Mississippi Kite, and Rufous-winged Sparrow are interesting species that have been found.  

A drawing card for Gila County's avifauna are the well-known Pinal Mountains, a small sky island range due south of the City of Globe.  The slopes and foothills of the Pinals rise up from chaparral to mixed-conifer and aspen forests below the summit of the 7,848' Pinal Peak.  The northernmost breeding population of Yellow-eyed Junco is found in the forests of the Pinals.  Other breeding species who have larger bulks of their breeding populations in southeastern Arizona, such as Greater Pewee, Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Red-faced Warbler, etc, are also found in the Pinals in high numbers.  In recent years, Short-tailed Hawks have been found in the Pinals fairly reliably, where breeding is highly speculated.  The Sierra Ancha Mountains further north of the Pinals have also attracted Short-tailed Hawk.  Like the Pinals, the Sierra Anchas are a drawing card for Gila County, and they have attracted Eared Quetzal and Sulphur-bellied Flycatchser among a selection of species typical of both Madrean and Rocky Mountain forests.

Another interesting element in Gila County comes from the north and northeast corner of the county, north of the town of Payson up to the communities of Pine and Strawberry, and east and northeast of Payson in the drainages and forested slopes that sit right below the Mogollon Rim.  The Mogollon Rim defines the Colorado Plateau, and anything above the Rim is in Coconino County, and anything below it is Gila County.  Several key species for the county have come from these drainages and slopes just below the Rim.  Hooded Warbler has been detected as a recent breeder in Pine Creek Canyon near the town of Pine, and Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher is a possible breeder.  Pacific Wren has bred in See Canyon.  The northeastern-most section of the county, right below the Mogollon Rim and adjacent to the well-traveled Colcord Road, is where American Three-toed Woodpecker is occasionally found.  The woodpecker is a species that is mainly found above the Rim on the Colorado Plateau, but a few of them are found immediately below the Rim and represent a species that barely reaches Gila County.  American Dipper is also found almost annually along the upper reaches of Tonto Creek, where they have shown signs of attempted breeding.  Despite showing signs, no evidence of successful breeding has been found for American Dipper in Gila County.