On February 18th, a Sonoran Audubon group visited the Robbins Butte Wildlife Area. This area is located just south of the Gila River about eight miles south of I-10 on SR 85. Phil Smith, the Wildlife Area Manager, met the group and gave us an overview of this well established wildlife area and accompanied us at various times with his fuzzy dog Chewbacca.

It was a beautiful, sunny, morning but cold. The group started the day observing the usual suspects around the feeders at the manager’s house. We then proceeded to the various fields which are maintained to provide forage for the wildlife of the area. These fields are lined with Cottonwood trees and are surrounded by desert scrub and Mesquite Bosque habitats providing the opportunity for a wide variety of birds.

The birding was a little slow until we stopped at the first of several small ponds maintained as watering sources. This pond was surrounded by Quail bush and provided quite the Sparrow workshop. Excellent views were had of WHITE-CROWNED, BLACK-THROATED, LINCOLNS, BREWERS, and SAGE SPARROWS. While studying the different habits and songs of the sparrows, a large FERRUGINOUS HAWK landed in a near-by tree. Just to his West, a GREATER ROADRUNNER was spotted 20 feet up a Mesquite tree. As we were preparing to move on to the next pond, we were surprised by a PRAIRIE FALCON arriving to investigate the pond.

Traveling around the fields produced several more species including a CRYSSAL THRASHER. A quick trip to the river did not produce much due to the abundant growth of Salt Cedar. We were rewarded, however, with a fly-over by a pair of WHITE PELICANS and an exciting aerial display of a NORTHERN HARRIER diving after a group of three RED-TAILED HAWKS.

The following list of 48 species was compiled on the trip: Double-crested Cormorant, Neotropic Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Northern Harrier, Merlin, Prairie Falcon, American Kestrel, Gamble’s Quail, White Pelican, Rock Pigeon, Mourning Dove, Gila Woodpecker, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Black Phoebe, Say’s Phoebe, Violet-green Swallow, Anna’s Hummingbird, Greater Roadrunner, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Loggerhead Shrike, Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Curve-billed Thrasher, Crissal Thrasher, Verdin, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Black-throated Sparrow, Sage Sparrow, Lincoln’s Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Green-tailed Towhee, Abert's Towhee, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Orange-crowned Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-winged Blackbird, Western Meadowlark, House Finch, House Sparrow, Northern Mockingbird, Phainopepla, Northern Cardinal, and Great-tailed Grackle.

The Following people participated in the trip: Phil Smith, Arizona Fish & Game Wildlife Manager, Vera Markham, Daniela Yellan, Jerry Hobbs, Kathy Hobbs, John Harrison, Al Temple, Chuck Richards, Loretta Richards, Chuck Richard, Marcia Johnson, Chuck Kangas, Dan Bohlmann, Ken Larson, Carolyn Modeen, Tom Lazzelle, Andrée Tarby, Eleanor Campbell, and Bob McCormick, Trip Leader.