Casa de San Pedro Bed & Breakfast

Our central location gives you easy access to 16 popular southeast Arizona birding destinations such as Ramsey Canyon, Beatty’s Orchard, Garden Canyon, Patagonia Preserve, San Pedro Riparian Area, Kino Springs and White-water Draw. Elevations of 4250′ on the San Pedro River to 7500 feet in the mountain canyons provide comfortable birding in our high desert environment. A rich variety of sparrows, songbirds, quail, flycatchers, phoebes, towhees, kingbirds and hawks/falcons are available for your study and pleasure. See below for more details. Let us arrange for local guides to make your birding experience more productive.

Cooperative Southeast Arizona Birding Programs

Join one of the variety of tours and learning experiences led by Sheri Williamson and Tom Wood of the Southeastern Arizona Bird Observatory (SABO). These educational programs, offered for the discriminating nature enthusiast, combine outstanding southwestern hospitality with some of the most exciting and diverse birding in North America. Please request a reservation to participate in a SABO workshop when making your Casa reservation.

Summer and Spring bring out the best in the sky islands region of southeastern Arizona. Wildflowers in an astounding variety of shapes and colors attract equally diverse pollinators – hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, even bats. Participants will stroll along the San Pedro River and hike the canyons of the neighboring Huachuca Mountains in search of up to 13 species of hummingbirds, 100+ species of butterflies and dozens of species of wildflowers. Remember, our Spring really occurs in August when the Summer monsoon rains bring green to the valley and water to the San Pedro River (in abundance!). Our “spring flowers” with all the butterflies are available in August (temperatures in the mid-80s during the day and dipping into the low 60s at night – who knew you could come to Arizona and even survive in August!!

2011 – 2012 Winter Birding

Winter Birding in SE Arizona is very productive as many species, along with our Snow Birds !, come to Arizona to bask in our sunshine and to escape the harsh winters of northern climes.  Noteworthy are the many hawks, eagles, sandhill cranes,  sparrows, and other field birds that find SE Arizona to be a perfect winter retreat.  Our local birding locations offer rich birding and sunny days, from the 20,000 plus sandhill cranes and many waterfowl at Whitewater Draw in the Sulphur Springs Valley, to birding along the San Pedro River and in the Huachuca Mountain Canyons, and over the mountain to the San Rafael Valley to the West with Patagonia and Kino Springs.  A several day tour my net one over 150 species of birds!

Our friends Tom Woods and Sheri Williamson of the Southeast Arizona Bird Observatory (www.sabo.org) will be happy to include you in a tour of Whitewater Draw and the Sulphur Springs Valley most Saturdays throughout the Winter months.

The Sulphur Springs Valley is a winter paradise for birds of prey. Up to twenty species may be found here between November and March, including eagles, falcons, buteos, accipiters, harriers, kites and owls. SABO’s Hawk Stalk tours take you down highways and back roads in search of these magnificent predators and other species that share their habitats. Along the way, your expert naturalist guides will share their knowledge of the identification, behavior, ecology, and history of the valley’s raptors, Sandhill Cranes, sparrows, and other wintering and resident birds.

And on Friday November 25 they are offering a special tour for Casa guests over the Thanksgiving Day weekend.  This special holiday edition departs from Casa de San Pedro Bed & Breakfast. Participants travel in a small tour bus (minivan for groups of 5 or fewer), with frequent stops for roadside birding and short walks. The group will stop for lunch in a local restaurant (separate checks). We recommend registering for this event at least 1 week in advance.

$75 per adult for members of SABO and/or guests of Casa de San Pedro, $85 for non-members; $40/members/guests, $45/non-members/non-guests for children age 10 to 16 when accompanied by an adult. Educational handouts and transportation from Bisbee are included. Registration for Casa guests is open now (registration code eagleogle); general registration opens November 12. For more information, contact SABO

Resident Bird Species

Green Heron, Green Kingfisher, Belted Kingfisher, Mexican Duck, Black Vulture, White-tailed Kite
Quail: Montezuma, Scaled, Gambel’s
Common Moorhen, Inca Dove, White Winged Dove, Mourning Dove, Greater Roadrunner.
Owls: Western Screech, Whiskered Screech, Burrowing, Mexican Spotted, Great-horned, Barn
Hummingbirds: Blue-throated, Magnificent, Anna’s, Black-chinned, Broad-tailed, Violet-crowned
Woodpeckers: Acorn, Gila, Strickland’s, Gilded, Lewis’s
Phoebes: Black, Say’s
Jays/Ravens: Steller’s, Mexican, and the Chihuauan Raven
Thrashers: Curved Bill, Bendires, Crissal
Silky Flycatchers: Phainopepla
Sparrows: Rufus-winged, Five Striped, Lark, White-crowned, House
Mexican Chickadee, Bridled Titmouse, Verdin, Black-throated Gray Warbler
Pyrrhuloxia Yellow-eyed Junco
Towhees: Spotted, Canyon, Aberts, Green Tailed
Wrens: Cactus, Rock, Canyon , Bewick’s Wren

Winter Birds:

Eared Grebe, American Bittern, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Ross’s Goose, Northern Shoveler, American Wigeon, Red-breasted Merganser, Swainson’s Hawk, Ferruginous Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Montezuma Quail, Scaled Quail, Gambel’s Quail, Common Moorhen, Sandhill Crane, Greater Yellowlegs, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Costa’s Hummingbird, Lewis’s Woodpecker, Red-naped Sapsucker, Gray Flycatcher, Western Scrub-Jay, Mexican Jay, Pinyon Jay, Plain Titmouse, Bushtit, Western Bluebird, Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon’s), Green-tailed Towhee, Baird’s Sparrow, McCown’s Longspur, Chestnut-collared Longspur, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Lesser Goldfinch and Lawrence’s Goldfinch.