Elegant Trogons Respond to Rainfall in Southeast Arizona
By Jennie MacFarland Elegant Trogon seen on the 2024 surveys, Lori Conrad Tucson Audubon conducted the 11th year of Elegant Trogon surveys of Southeast Arizona this past May. The surveys cover five separate Sky Island Mountain ranges that are each an Important Bird Area. Together, these ranges make up nearly all of the known breeding habitat of Elegant Trogons within the United States. After years of surveys, we are starting to see some very interesting trends emerging. To standardize our efforts, the surveys are scheduled in the same pattern each year. The second weekend of May is the Atascosa Highlands IBA survey, followed by the Patagonia Mountains IBA and the Santa Rita Mountains IBA on the third weekend. The final weekend of May is the Huachuca Mountains IBA and the Chiricahua Mountains IBA. These surveys are a huge group effort and over 100 people help every year to collect this data. THANK YOU to the hundreds of amazing people who have helped over the last 11 years! The 2024 tot
