Heading to Saguaro National Park to bird? Keep an eye out for Curve-bill Thrashers/Kirby Adams

The dog days of summer are upon us and the birding is slow in most parts of the country. While summer breeding season has ended in many areas, fall migration for songbirds is still at least a couple weeks away. Still, there’s good birding to be had during these popular vacation times in the national parks.

How’s Saguaro National Park in the heat of late summer sound? Yes, it’s hot, but so is the birding. Birds of the Southwestern deserts often produce a second clutch of young late in the summer. In southeast Arizona, that coincides with the “monsoon” rains of August. A jaunt through the cactus fields of Saguaro can yield Curve-billed Thrashers guarding nests, Gila Woodpeckers feeding young in a cactus, or Greater Roadrunners running across the roads.

The smart birder stays hydrated, wears sunscreen, and birds the park as soon as they open the gate in the morning. By noon, the temperature will be over 100°F and even the birds accustomed to the desert slow down and stick to what little shade there is. An afternoon monsoon provides a good opportunity to spot birds taking advantage of a little bit of water being available right after the rain, but that period after the morning birdsong and before the rain is a good time to be in an air conditioned restaurant reviewing your bird lists.

Chiricahua National Monument is the other gem of Southeast Arizona. Birders from all over the world know about the spectacular avian life around Portal, Arizona, on the east side of the Chiricahuas. Portal is a neighbor to the national monument as the thrasher flies, but it’s not really a gateway town, as getting between the two is a drive that is either long, adventurous, or both. Regardless, a visit to Chiricahua National Monument should be accompanied by a drive around or through the mountains to Portal and Cave Creek Canyon. The Elegant Trogon is probably the most prized bird on the Chiricahua Mountains list. Crissal Thrashers and Lucy’s Warblers are good finds in the Portal area.

For a slightly more remote birding experience, head over to Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Organ Pipe is part of the Sonoran Desert, so the bird life will be similar to that found in Saguaro National Park, but with fewer people around. As with any desert birding or wildlife watching excursion, look for any areas holding water and there you’ll find the animals. Spring migration in May, and even into June, is a good time to check for warblers passing through and stopping for a drink at a tinaja, a depression in the bedrock that holds water after a rain. Even in the heat of summer, though, there’s water here and there and the birds will reward with good views at these locations. Remember to be an ethical birder and not linger at an oasis, though. There isn’t much water to be had, and you don’t want to scare animals away from a good source of it.

The NPS staff at Organ Pipe claim to usually have at least one birder on duty at the visitor center, so be sure to ask for the latest bird gossip. Things can change quickly in the desert, and the bird hotspot of the day might not be something you can find in a book or even on eBird.

If the heat of the Sonoran and Chiricahuan Deserts is a bit much for you, have no fear. Fall migration is coming, and the shorebirds are already moving down the national seashores on the Atlantic coast. In just three or four weeks, the warbler onslaught from Canada will sweep across the country and there won’t be a bad spot to bird across the continent.