Regional Guide
Feeding Birds in the Southwest
Put a shallow dish of water in a Southwest yard and you will pull in more species in a week than a seed feeder brings in a month. Everything else here follows from heat and dryness.
The short answer
- Water is the strongest attractant in the desert Southwest. A shallow dish with moving water beats any feeder you can buy.
- Elevation matters more than latitude here. A yard at 2,000 feet (600 m) and one at 7,000 feet (2,100 m) sixty miles apart have different bird lists.
- The region has the richest hummingbird variety in the country, and in the low desert some hummingbirds are present all year.
- Nectar ferments in hours at desert temperatures. Change it daily above 95°F (35°C) and keep feeders in shade.
- Dry air keeps seed fresh longer than in humid regions, but heat still turns sunflower oil rancid, so buy small and store cool.
In the desert Southwest, the highest-value thing in your yard is not a feeder. It is a shallow dish of clean water, kept full through a 105°F (41°C) afternoon. Birds that will never touch sunflower seed will use it daily, and the sound of a dripper carries a long way across dry ground.
The second regional truth is that elevation matters more than the map suggests. Sonoran desert at 2,000 feet (600 m), pinyon-juniper at 5,000 feet (1,500 m) and pine forest at 8,000 feet (2,400 m) can be an hour's drive apart and share almost no feeder birds.
This guide covers the water setup first, then the species list by elevation, the region's unusual hummingbird variety, and the practical business of keeping nectar and seed usable in heat.
Which states this guide covers#
Arizona, New Mexico, southern Nevada and southern Utah. Far west Texas is better served by the Texas guide, and the California deserts by the California guide.
Two boundaries deserve attention. Northern Utah, northern Nevada and the higher Colorado Plateau grade into the Mountain West, where winter is a real season and mountain birds dominate. And within this region, the sky islands of southeastern Arizona are a category of their own: isolated mountain ranges that hold birds found nowhere else in the United States.
Water first#
A bird bath in the desert is not decoration. Build it this way:
- Shallow. No more than 2 inches (5 cm) at the deepest point, with a rough or textured bottom for grip. Deep basins get used by pigeons and nothing else.
- In partial shade if possible, so the water does not reach scalding temperatures by midafternoon.
- Refilled daily, both because it evaporates fast and because standing water in heat goes foul in a day or two. Scrub it weekly.
- With moving water, if you can manage it. A dripper, a mister on a timer or a small solar pump changes a good bird bath into the most productive feature in the yard. The options are in drippers, misters and moving water.
Ground level and raised basins attract different birds. Quail, thrashers and towhees prefer something at or near the ground with cover close by. Details on siting and depth are in bird baths.
Mosquito control is part of the job
Standing water in heat can breed mosquitoes in under a week. Daily emptying and refilling solves it completely, which is another reason a small basin beats a large one in this region.
Birds you will realistically see at a Southwest feeder#
The low and mid elevation list, which is what most people have:
| Bird | Best food | When |
|---|---|---|
| House finch | Sunflower hearts, nyjer | Year-round, usually the most numerous |
| Lesser goldfinch | Nyjer, sunflower hearts | Year-round |
| Mourning dove | Millet, cracked corn, platform | Year-round |
| White-winged dove | Millet, sunflower, platform | Mostly spring to fall in the low desert |
| Gambel's quail | Millet and cracked corn on the ground | Year-round, low desert, needs cover |
| Curve-billed thrasher | Fruit, mealworms, ground seed | Year-round in cactus country |
| Bushtit | Suet, sunflower hearts | Year-round, in restless flocks |
| Verdin | Nectar, suet, fruit | Year-round in the low desert |
| Gila and ladder-backed woodpeckers | Suet, peanuts, fruit | Year-round |
| Northern flicker | Suet, ground seed | Year-round, red-shafted form |
| White-crowned sparrow | Millet on the ground | October to April, in numbers |
| Chipping sparrow | White millet, low tray | Winter flocks |
| Spotted towhee | Ground seed near dense cover | Year-round to seasonal |
| Abert's towhee | Millet, ground feeding near cover | Low desert riparian |
| Northern cardinal | Sunflower, safflower | Southern Arizona and New Mexico |
| Pyrrhuloxia | Sunflower, safflower | Desert scrub, southern part of the region |
| Anna's hummingbird | Nectar, 1 part sugar to 4 water | Year-round in the low desert |
| Black-chinned hummingbird | Nectar | Roughly March to September |
| Broad-billed hummingbird | Nectar | Southern Arizona, spring through fall |
| Rufous hummingbird | Nectar | Mostly July to September passage |
The Southwest scrub-jay is Woodhouse's scrub-jay, a gray-blue jay of pinyon-juniper and oak country that takes peanuts and sunflower readily. It was once lumped with the coastal bird covered in the California scrub-jay profile, and the two behave much the same at a feeder.
Elevation changes the list completely#
| Elevation band | Typical habitat | Feeder birds that appear |
|---|---|---|
| Below 3,000 ft (900 m) | Sonoran and Chihuahuan desert | Quail, white-winged doves, verdin, thrashers, Anna's and Costa's hummingbirds |
| 3,000 to 6,000 ft (900 to 1,800 m) | Grassland, pinyon-juniper, oak | Woodhouse's scrub-jay, spotted towhee, juncos in winter, black-chinned hummingbirds |
| Above 6,000 ft (1,800 m) | Pine and mixed conifer | Steller's jay, mountain chickadee, nuthatches, broad-tailed hummingbirds |
If you live on a slope, expect winter visitors from higher up. Mountain chickadees, juncos and occasionally Steller's jays drop into foothill yards in cold months and go back up in spring.
Hummingbirds: the reason people move here#
No other part of the country offers this variety at a feeder. In much of southern Arizona you can reasonably expect three or four species in a year, and in the southeastern canyons the count runs far higher.
Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) is the anchor species in the low desert and is present all year in Phoenix and Tucson, which means the feeder never entirely comes down. Black-chinned hummingbirds arrive around March and leave by early fall. Rufous hummingbirds pass through mainly from July into September on their way south, and they are aggressive enough to monopolize a single feeder.
Two feeders hung out of sight of each other, around a corner or on opposite sides of the house, defuse most of that aggression. More on feeder choice is in hummingbird feeders, and the mix is simply one part white sugar to four parts water with no dye, as set out in the hummingbird nectar recipe.
Nectar in the sun is a health risk
Sugar water at 105°F (41°C) in a clear feeder ferments within hours and can grow black mold in the ports by the next morning. Hang nectar feeders in deep shade, fill them a third full, and change the nectar daily in summer. Cleaning method is in cleaning a hummingbird feeder.
Heat, and what it does to everything else#
Dry air is kinder to seed than Southeast humidity, but heat still degrades it. Sunflower oil turns rancid in a hot metal-roofed feeder, and birds reject it before you notice.
- Buy small quantities and store them indoors in a sealed container, not in a garage that hits 120°F (49°C). See storing bird seed.
- Skip standard suet from May to September. It melts, goes rancid, and fat on feathers is bad for birds. No-melt cakes in shade are the compromise.
- Site feeders in shade, which also keeps birds from overheating while they feed.
The Southwest calendar#
| Period | What is happening | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Feb to March | Anna's nesting, black-chinned arriving, desert bloom | Nectar feeders up region-wide, water topped daily |
| April to May | Peak activity before real heat | Seed and nectar both busy, keep everything clean |
| June | Hottest, driest stretch before the rains | Water is the priority, shade nectar, reduce seed volume |
| July to Sept | Monsoon rains, rufous hummingbirds move south | Watch for seed clumping after storms, nectar daily |
| Oct to Nov | Wintering sparrows arrive | Ground feeding with millet begins |
| Dec to Feb | Mild winter at low elevation, real winter above | Anna's feeders stay up in the desert; higher yards add suet |
Those windows shift by a week or two with the year, and by considerably more between the low desert and a mountain town.
Monsoon storms are your one wet-seed period
The summer rains are brief but intense. Wet sunflower in a hot feeder molds in days, which is the one time the desert has a Southeast problem. Empty and dry feeders after a heavy storm rather than topping them up.
A Southwest setup that works#
- A shallow bird bath with a dripper, cleaned weekly and refilled every day. This is the centerpiece, not an accessory.
- One or two nectar feeders in deep shade, saucer style, filled a third full and changed daily in summer.
- A sunflower hearts or mixed seed tube in shade, filled low so seed turns over quickly.
- A ground tray or low platform with white millet near cover for quail, doves, towhees and wintering sparrows.
- Cover close by: native shrubs, a brush pile or cactus, since desert birds will not feed far from an escape route. See native plants for birds.
- Sealed seed storage and a swept feeding area, to keep rodents and larger animals out of it.
If you are in the higher country of northern Arizona, northern New Mexico or the Utah mountains, the Mountain West guide will match your winter better than this page does.
Frequently asked questions#
What is the best way to attract desert birds to my yard?
Offer water before you offer food. A shallow basin no more than 2 inches (5 cm) deep, kept clean and refilled daily, will draw doves, finches, thrashers, warblers and quail that ignore seed feeders. Adding a dripper or mister multiplies the effect, because the sound of moving water carries across dry ground.
Do hummingbird feeders stay up all year in Arizona?
In the low desert of southern Arizona, yes. Anna's hummingbirds are present year-round in Phoenix and Tucson, and other species pass through in most months. At higher elevations and in northern New Mexico, take feeders down once the birds have gone in late fall and put them back out in early spring.
How often should I change hummingbird nectar in desert heat?
Daily when the high is above 95°F (35°C), and twice a day if the feeder is in sun above 105°F (41°C). Sugar water spoils fast and hot nectar can be harmful. Hang the feeder in full shade, use a saucer style that holds less, and fill it only a third full so nothing sits long.
Which hummingbirds live in the Southwest?
Anna's, black-chinned, broad-billed and Costa's are the common feeder birds, with rufous, calliope and broad-tailed passing through on migration. Southeastern Arizona canyons add several more, including magnificent and violet-crowned hummingbirds, which is why that corner draws birders from across the country.
Does feeding birds in the desert attract rodents and other animals?
It can. Spilled seed draws rock squirrels, packrats, ground squirrels and, in some areas, javelina and coyotes. Use a catch tray, sweep up hulls, store seed in sealed metal containers, and bring feeders in at night if you have a persistent problem.