Ducks in the Desert?

By Luke Safford

The shape-shifting Green Heron is on the hunt. Photo by Peter Brannon

We are walking along the edge of cattails and marsh when all of a sudden flocks of waterfowl start flying over our heads coming from the south. Hundreds of American Wigeon, with scores of Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and Northern Pintail mixed in, create fun identification challenges for us as we gaze up in the sky at the spectacle. They circle us a few times before heading off to other bodies of water and we are satisfied with finding a couple Gadwall and Ring-necked Ducks in with the more common species. A few folks in the group of sixteen bird watchers act a bit surprised by this explosion of waterfowl as we aren’t in the flooded timber of Arkansas or the potholes of North Dakota, but instead we are birding in the Sonoran Desert of Southeast Arizona. Who knew we had all of these ducks?

This scenario plays out week after week in the winter months during Tucson Audubon’s weekly birding walks at Sweetwater Wetlands, a 60 acre water treatment and recharge project of Tucson Water which is maintained for eco-tourism and urban wildlife habitat. Visitors to the wetlands may be surprised by the rich diversity of wildlife found in this park which is nestled among the growing urban sprawl of the area. In fact, it ranks first among all birding hotspots in Pima County with 315 species recorded, and fourth overall in the state of Arizona, just behind Patagonia Lake State Park, Lake Cochise in Willcox, and the Riparian Preserve at Gilbert Water Ranch. It is easy to see what all of these locations have in common, isn’t it?

Water resources in the Sonoran Desert, whether artificially created or natural, offer the support these animals need on their wintering grounds. Not only ducks, but other “non-desert” birds such as Common Gallinule, Green Heron, and Red-winged Blackbird frequent this area year-round.

Sweetwater Wetlands welcomes thousands of birders each year. Photo by Cory Michael Kennedy.

The Common Gallinule is a year round resident at Sweetwater Wetlands. Photo by Greg Lavaty

Gallinules are especially favored by visitors because of their red and yellow, or “candy corn” like bill. They are members of the rail family, small chicken-like birds that are often secretly hiding just out of sight in the marsh, and are more often heard than seen. A walk through Sweetwater Wetlands in the winter might also result in hearing the dolphin-like whinny of a Sora or the pig-grunting of a Virginia Rail. Quite the change from the typical Sonoran Desert birds we’re used to hearing!

If you’re looking for the wetlands equivalent of our desert-loving Greater Roadrunner, look no further than the Green Heron. A shape-shifter, it will raise and lower a mohawk-looking crown as it hunts and will contort its neck into its body or stretch it out to look larger than it is. While it isn’t a brilliant green, the dark green and chestnut brown markings stand out, and like the roadrunner, it snatches its prey with a powerful beak—only it goes after bullfrogs and mosquito fish instead of lizards and ground squirrels.

Blackbirds are drawn to the wetlands as a place to roost for the night. The thick cattails create a resting location that they otherwise wouldn’t find in the Sonoran Desert outside of the few natural cienegas that remain. After feeding in farmlands and cattle feedlots during the day, hundreds (sometimes thousands) of Red-winged, Yellow-headed, and Brewer’s Blackbirds, along with Great-tailed Grackles and a few Brown-headed Cowbirds, will congregate along the telephone wires above the wetlands and then will zoom into the cattails as the sun goes down. If you arrive early enough in the morning the sound of blackbirds waking up can be deafening before they all fly out to feed for the day.

Red-winged Blackbird. Photo by Greg Lavaty

Ring-necked Duck. Photo by Mick Thompson

Birds aren’t the only ones that are drawn to the water in the desert, the people are too. Sweetwater Wetlands was first opened for visitors in 1997 and since then over 30,000 bird checklists have been submitted to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird database! Check out the hotspot data. The diversity of wildlife in the wetlands is only rivaled by the variety of people who come to visit from all walks of life all around the world. It really is amazing how water in the desert creates community between species and people who normally would not associate.

The beauty of this diversity is expressed on a weekly basis on Wednesday mornings during Tucson Audubon’s weekly field trip at Sweetwater Wetlands. It’s free to register at tucsonaudubon.org/field-trips, and we hope to see you there. Maybe you will be surprised by the ducks when they fly over, but I’m guessing you will be ready!

Luke Safford is Tucson Audubon's Director of Engagement and Education.