List of Sonoran Desert Birds (Arizona) - Southwest Region

Southwest Region

The listed birds are based on the southern section of the Lower Colorado River Valley-LCRV, from Yuma County and La Paz County, to the Bill Williams River, (and by extension to Needles, California/Topock, Arizona). The Colorado River borders the higher elevation Mojave Desert to the northwest(Needles and Las Vegas), the Colorado Desert–(extension of Sonoran Desert) on the southwest and west, and the deserts of the Sonoran Desert to the east, the Yuma Desert, Lechuguilla Desert, and the Tule Desert (Arizona).
Bolded species are exclusive to the hottest deserts (SW Arizona, Baja, California, N Mexico, and the Carrizo Plain, (Le Conte's Thrasher).

• Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii
• Black Rail, Laterallus jamaicensis
  • SW Ariz Sonoran desert, but also other locales.
• Greater Roadrunner, Geococcyx californianus, (Extensive range beyond the Sonoran Desert)
• Gila Woodpecker, Melanerpes uropygialis
• Gilded Flicker, Colaptes chrysoides
• Vermilion Flycatcher, Pyrocephalus rubinus
• Brown-crested Flycatcher, Myiarchus tyrannulus
• Black-tailed Gnatcatcher, Polioptila melanura
  • Also ranges E and S into the Chihuahuan Desert, Texas and Mexico.
• Crissal Thrasher, Toxostoma crissale, ranges S into Central Mexico
• Le Conte's Thrasher, Toxostoma lecontei, Sonoran, and ranges into S Nevada–(locally: the Carrizo Plain, N of Los Angeles)
• Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens
  • Also ranges into California's San Joaquin Valley.
• Lucy's Warbler, Oreothlypis luciae
  • Exclusive in Sonoran Desert, Summer Range, (includes the Colorado River Valley, the Grand Canyon, and S Nevada).
• Abert's Towhee, Melozone aberti, (–Sonoran Desert–)
• Black-throated Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata
  • Permanent breeding range, (but ranges E to Texas, and also Summer ranges to very S Oregon, very S Idaho).
• Yellow-headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus
  • Permanent in S Lower Colorado River Valley–(LCRV).

• Greater
  Roadrunner

• Gila Woodpecker
  Melanerpes uropygialis

• Burrowing Owl

• Abert's Towhee
  Melozone aberti

• Phainopepla
  Phainopepla nitens

• Yellow-headed
  Blackbird
  Xanthocephalus
  xanthocephalus