5 Days/4 Nights

Arizona Hummingbird Spring Migration Tour

Enjoy southern Arizona’s spring bird migration of hummingbirds and other unique species at some of southern Arizona’s best birding locations!  You’ll travel with professional birding guides through the Madera Canyon, one of the country’s most popular birding spots, visit the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum walk-in bird aviaries and participate in hummingbird banding. The scenery is gorgeous, the food is scrumptious and the birds are plentiful on this fascinating getaway.

Tour Highlights

• Explore some of the best birding territory in North America at the height of the Spring hummingbird migration season.
• Travel with professional birding guides and participate in private hummingbird banding.
• Visit the world famous Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and its bustling hummingbird aviary.
• Enjoy the Tucson Botanical Gardens, a beautiful oasis in the heart of Tucson.

Itinerary

Day 1—Tucson: Join us in Tucson! Blessed with 360 sunny days a year, Arizona offers you birding at its best. Get to know your fellow travelers as we kick-off our memorable hummingbird adventure at this evening’s reception. Welcome Reception included.

Day 2—Tucson/Green Valley: We’re off to the internationally-acclaimed Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum for an introduction to the beauty of southeastern Arizona. This outdoor museum has a walk-in hummingbird aviary which features the tiny, iridescent birds in constant motion!

After we’ll head to a beautiful oasis in the heart of Tucson, voted “Best Secret Garden” by Reader’s Digest, the Tucson Botanical Gardens and have lunch at the Gardens Café.

Later, we’ll make our way back to the hotel where you will have dinner on your own and enjoy a relaxing evening. Meals included: B, L.

Day 3—Madera Canyon/Tubac/Nogales: Travel to Madera Canyon, the wooded valley at the base of the Santa Rita Mountains, for a morning of birding with Jack Murray and other expert birding guides. Madera Canyon is a world-renowned birding destination. Keep your eyes open for Cooper’s Hawks, American Kestrels, Acorn Woodpeckers, numerous hummingbird species and lots of other local wildlife.

We will enjoy lunch in Amada at a local favorite, the home of one desert hallucination that doesn't evaporate as you approach. The giant longhorn skull entrance at the Longhorn Bar & Grill is a real eyecatcher, appearing as the occasional cinematic backdrop. After lunch we will head down the road to visit the Agua Linda Farm, a sustainable, direct to consumer operation reminiscent of the diversified family farms of the past. Enjoy time for shopping in the village of Tubac and even find yourself an afternoon snack.

This evening we’ll head to the Esplendor Resort at Rio Rico, where we’ll enjoy the amenities of the resort and have dinner together reviewing what we added to our birding lists for the day. Meals included: B, L, D.

Day 4—Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve/Sierra Vista: Begin your day birding with our guides in the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve. The Preserve is one of the most popular places for birding in the United States. Easy walking trails take you along Sonoita Creek and through a rare cottonwood willow forest to spot the hummingbirds that have migrated here. Then before we end our birding morning, we’ll make a stop at the home of Wally and Marion Paton, a private residence that is well known for its abundance of hummingbird feeders.

After lunch on your own in Patagonia, we’ll make a stop at the Arizona Folklore Preserve to hear songs and stories celebrating the West in the relaxing beauty of Ramsey Canyon.

Next, we’ll look for hummingbirds along the trails near the San Pedro House bookstore and visitor center of the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area. As many as 10 different hummingbird species use the San Pedro River as a “freeway” between their winter homes in the tropics and their northern nesting grounds. Here we’ll help staff and volunteers capture, weigh, measure, band and release hummingbirds as part of a long-term migration study. Meals included: B, D.

Day 5 — Sierra Vista/Hereford/Tucson: This morning we’ll hear from Sheri Williamson, author of Peterson’s Field Guide to Hummingbirds of North America. We’ll observe hummingbirds at the yard feeders at Tom and Edith Beatty’s Miller Canyon Guest Ranch, "America's Premier Hummingbird Viewing Spot," and at Ash Canyon Bed & Breakfast nearby. Fifteen different species of hummingbirds frequent the Beatty’s feeding station and garden.

To say farewell, we’ll lunch in Sierra Vista, then head back to Tucson with plenty of memories of gorgeous southern Arizona and its colorful birds and wildlife. Meals included: B, L.

Accommodations

• Day 1 & 2: Radisson Suites Hotel Tucson Airport
• Day 3: Esplendor Resort, Rio Rico, AZ
• Day 4: Windermere Hotel, Sierra Vista, AZ