Under-birded Areas of SEAZ: Canelo Hills, Korn, Lyle, and Merritt Canyons

By Tim Helentjaris

I hadn’t heard of any of these drainages until last summer during our Yellow-billed Cuckoo surveys when Jennie MacFarland assigned them to us. In fact, before our surveys last summer, I saw no eBird reports from these areas at all, despite their close proximity to Parker Canyon Lake. A very pleasant surprise as they turned out to be very productive for a number of species, given first impressions. I was back there as part of an effort to help Ariana La Porte in her project on Gray Hawks, looking at nesting success in different habitats.

Gray Hawk nestlings on the San Pedro River. Ariana La Porte

Adult Gray Hawk on the San Pedro River. Ariana La Porte

All three of these drainages are easily reached from the drive to Parker Canyon Lake along SR83, and they share a number of similar characteristics. All are very shallow, belying their canyon status, and flanked by wide areas of rolling hills covered by oak, juniper, and grasslands. Within the canyons themselves, there are mostly larger oaks, but also some scattered sycamores. I was surprised last summer when our bird surveys in them turned out to be so productive, I guess because my prior understanding of oak habitats was naively informed by a small number of areas such as Madera and Cave Canyons which are more steep-sided and very narrow in nature compared to these much broader and drier drainages. These features point to another advantage to these canyons—all offer almost completely flat hikes in for a couple of miles, so most folks will find them fairly easy walks, despite the lack of obvious trails.

Driving south along SR83 towards Parker Canyon Lake, I first reached Lyle Canyon Road, aka FS #201, as it splits off around 19 miles from Sonoita. This first section of the area is mostly a patchwork of private property, but luckily the best birding areas are farther along in Coronado National Forest areas. Lyle Canyon Road is a very reasonable road and passable along its length by most cars, paralleling the drainage for most of its length, sometimes actually crossing it back and forth. Obvious species in this area are most of the usual oak denizens: Cassin’s Kingbird, Morning and White-winged Doves, Lark Sparrows, and Mexican Jays. The first area where I actually got out and prepared to bird was up from the junction with Korn Canyon, just about 3 miles in. As soon as I got out of the car, I immediately heard Wild Turkeys and the eerie call of the male Montezuma Quail. In fact, last summer, all of us remarked on how many times we encountered this last species which can be a bit troublesome to find elsewhere, but not in this general area.

Korn Canyon. Tim Helentjaris

Lyle Canyon with Huachucas in distance. Tim Helentjaris

Driving further south, I re-crossed the boundary into Coronado National Forest in another quarter mile and came to my second nesting, hiking over to the drainage, where here it is incised in a bit. On the walk in, I saw an interesting hybrid Northern/Gilded Flicker, reminiscent of another that I had seen just over in the Patagonia Mountains, along Harshaw Creek Road. They seem to predominantly like these intermediate elevations, although I also saw several non-hybrid Northern Flickers here as well, along with several Western Wood-pewees and Dusky-capped Flycatchers. Again I heard a Gray Hawk whining during the walk over, and also a barking, male Elegant Trogon. This whole area was not only productive for cuckoos and Gray Hawks but also trogons.

Continuing to drive through Lyle Canyon, an area which is pretty natural and productive, you’ll notice a surprising mix of sonoran and oak-juniper habitats that occur here. I saw the following four species from a single point: Band-tailed Pigeon, Curve-billed Thrasher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and Greater Roadrunner. After another few miles, Lyle Canyon Road/FR201 rejoins SR83 near mile marker #7. A short way towards Parker Canyon Lake, you pass some old corrals and the turn-off to FR#5600, where there is an enormous raptor nest in the top of a huge pine tree. I have never noted a raptor near this nest but would love to know who constructed it, so if any of you find out, let me know.

SR83 begins a series of switchbacks just after mile marker #4 before the lake as it drops into another drainage, which is Merritt Canyon. Here one can walk up-canyon, which is dry and open but still productive for Montezuma Quail and other oak birds. Walking down-canyon, the canopy is more developed with larger trees.

Montezuma Quail by Alan Schmierer

I suggest that if you find yourself in this area, say camping or fishing at nearby Parker Canyon Lake, the most interesting area to investigate would be to take Lyle Canyon Road and either walk a mile or so up Korn Canyon or farther south, drop into the Lyle Canyon itself and see what you can find. I suspect you won’t be disappointed.