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TUBAC HAWKWATCH
Enjoying the Hawks
Ron Morriss Park is located at 31 Calle Iglesia, Tubac, AZ, along the Santa Cruz River. Just park your car, pull out a chair, and enjoy! Plan to be there in the morning for best viewing, when the hawks tend to fly low. Bring a chair, hat, sunscreen, water and binoculars. The Santa Cruz River, with its cottonwood-willow riparian forest, is a major migration pathway for hawks and many other birds too. A walk along the River on the adjacent Anza Trail offers excellent birding opportunities.
Swainson’s Hawk
Photo by Seth Ausubel
Hawk Watching Through The season
A summary of hawk counts at the Tubac HawkWatch since 2012 can be found on the Hawk Migration Association’s Site Page. Click on the “Migration Timing” tab for an overview of data from past years.
Official hawk counters provided by HawkWatch International count the hawks from February 15 to April 30. In February, Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures begin moving through Tubac. These species are common throughout most of the season, along with smaller numbers of Black Vultures. Cooper’s Hawks are local breeders, and you can watch pairs in courtship flight with their white undertail feathers spread and slow exaggerated wing beats.
Red-tailed Hawk (top) taken by Seth Ausubel at the Tubac Community Center. Turkey Vulture (middle) taken by Seth Ausubel. Black Vulture (botttom) taken by Ned Harris.
March, especially mid-March, is the peak of the migration. Expect cold mornings and warm, sunny days. Common Black Hawks begin to arrive early in the month. Mornings in mid-March, as the sun warms the ground, you have a good chance of seeing a “lift-off” of numbers of Common Black Hawks. The birds leave their overnight roosts in the nearby cottonwood trees and fly low over the hawk watch seeking columns of rising air called “thermals”. They soar in the thermals to gain altitude and ease their migration.
Common Black Hawk (bottom) being harassed by a Common Raven taken by Seth Ausubel.
Zone-tailed Hawks and Gray Hawks arrive in mid-March. They breed locally, and once they arrive can be seen daily. A few Golden Eagles are seen through the month. Swainson’s Hawks arrive late in March and continue in April. As the weather gets hot in April, hawk migration activity declines. However, there is a small migration of Broad-winged Hawks, rare in Arizona.
Zone-tailed Hawk taken by Seth Ausubel in Tubac, AZ.
Other species that can be seen in small numbers through much of the season include Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, and Osprey. Arizona rarities such as Crested Caracara, White-tailed Kite, and Short-tailed Hawk occur most years. In fact, over the past several years, a dark-morph Short-tailed Hawk has stayed in the area for a few weeks in March, seen overhead numerous times. Several other rarities are possible too!
Image of an Osprey taken by Seth Ausubel.
big thanks to our tubac hawk watch festival sponsors
