Arizona’s Beautiful Grasslands Are Worth a Visit

By Jennie MacFarland

The Northern Harrier is a striking bird of Southeast Arizona grasslands, BN Singh

Grassland is not the first landscape that springs to mind when thinking about Arizona. While our marvelous state is famous for saguaro studded deserts, mountain vistas, and pine forests, we also have some breathtaking grassland areas. The Las Cienegas National Conservation Area near Sonoita is an example of local grassland habitat where you might even see a herd of pronghorn antelope! The Empire Ranch is an excellent place to start within Las Cienegas—the self-guided tour of the historic ranch house is like a step back in time. If you take the main road south from the Empire Ranch House, you can see much of the beautiful grasslands of this area. Sonoita is also notable for the many vineyards in the area that offer tours and wine tastings, a perfect pairing for a fun day!

A little farther south outside of Patagonia, lies the San Rafael Valley. This valley has extensive, panoramic views of grassland that is so beautiful that it served as the filming location for the movie musical, Oklahoma!. It really is that scenic! Most of the valley is private land, but it’s traversed by well maintained dirt roads that the public can access to enjoy the hidden gems of grasslands within Southeast Arizona. 

The grasslands in winter, a golden sea, Jennie MacFarland

The grasslands in the region are technically known as Chihuahuan Desert Grassland. Most of this type of grassland is within northern Mexico with about a third occuring in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. What makes this habitat type different from other types of grassland in North America is that it receives most of its rainfall during the summer monsoon. This means that these grasslands are green during July and August and golden yellow the rest of the year. The amount of rain that these areas get during the summer affects how much grass seed will be available in the fall and winter. These seeds are a very important food source for many bird species that travel south to spend the winter months here. At least 85% of the bird species that nest in the Western Great Plains, the northern tiers of the US, and southern Canada, winter in our Chihuahuan Desert Grassland. These two very different grassland habitats are tied together by these bird species.

Unfortunately, grassland-associated bird species are the fastest declining group of birds within the US, and this is largely driven by habitat loss. Both their nesting habitat and their wintering grasslands here in southern Arizona have faced significant loss or alteration in the last few decades. That is what makes these large sections of remaining Chihuahuan Desert Grasslands near Sonoita and Patagonia so important. Tucson Audubon conducts annual winter surveys for one of these bird species, the Chestnut-collared Longspur. It is the fastest declining species of bird in North America, and a very high conservation priority. Both the Las Cienegas NCA and the San Rafael Valley have been designated as Globally significant Important Bird Areas for this species. The longspurs are drawn to cattle ponds that have shallow edges, as they need to drink frequently to digest the seeds they feast upon all winter. When it comes to food choice, they very much prefer the seeds of our native grasses, such as grama grass, over the non-native grasses. Unfortunately, the non-native Lehmann lovegrass has done very well in our grasslands, pushing out the native species and providing birds with a nutritionally-poor food source compared to native grasses. Anything that can be done to encourage native grass growth is beneficial for longspurs and other birds. 

Chestnut-collared Longspur, Alan Schmierer

A perfect cattle tank to find Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Richard Fray

There are many other charismatic bird species that can be found in our grasslands in the winter such as Ferruginous Hawk, Merlin (small falcons), Northern Harrier, and many different varieties of Red-tailed Hawks. There is also an abundance of sparrow species that winter here, including White-crowned Sparrow, Savannah Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, Lark Bunting, and the rare Baird’s Sparrow. 

Merlin, Greg Lavaty

Desert grasslands are beautiful in winter and full of birds and other wildlife. They are definitely worth a visit to discover a new side of Southeast Arizona!

Jennie MacFarland is the Bird Conservation Biologist for Tucson Audubon.