Arizona, Part 2: Black-throated Sparrow 10/8/2025

     My wife and I were the first of the group to head north to Sedona.  We extended the normally two-hour drive by enjoying the scenery on the drive north.  The desert landscape was dotted with speckled mountains and somewhat anthropomorphic saguaro cacti standing tall and majestic.  As we drove north the elevation continued to rise and the temperature began to lower.  Along the way, the landscape gradually changed.  The mountains increased and reddened, the saguaros gave way to smaller prickly pear cacti, and juniper and ponderosa pine trees became more prominent. 

Left, the view along Arizona Highway 17 heading out of the Phoenix area.  Right, prickly pear cacti that replaced the Saguaro cacti as we proceeded north in higher elevations.  © S. Weiss

Unfortunately, there were not many pull offs along the highway for visitors like us to stop and admire what we don’t see back home.  We eventually came upon a designated scenic view rest stop, Sunset Point Rest Area.  We probably spent over an hour there as the inner child in me walked around the scrub area looking for any indigenous species I could flush up or find under a rock.  I did find my first new life bird there and a couple of lizards.  

Left, a simply stated reminder to me and other non-Arizonans.  Right, strawberry hedgehog cactus.  © S. Weiss

After a bit of walking and rock flipping, I flushed out a small sparrow that quickly flew from one desert shrub deep into another.  I only caught part of a white crown on it as it flushed in front of me.  There were white- crowned sparrows in the area, and they are actually pretty common out west.  But this bird was smaller and paler.  I knew there were a couple sparrow species around that would be new to me, so I didn’t want this one to get away without identifying it.  I waited it out for a few minutes, and it started to move towards the outer edges of the other bush.  Through my binoculars I saw its face and immediately recognized it as a black-throated sparrow.  I excitedly took photos of it and a second one that was around.  

Black-throated sparrow.  © S. Weiss

This was one of my wish list birds.  Being a desert species, I thought I had lost any chance of seeing one when we left the Phoenix area and headed north.  But when I later checked its range in my Sibley guide, I found that its breeding range extends into Washington state, and its year-round range is the southern half of Arizona.  Sibley describes its habitat as “arid desert scrub,” which is exactly how I would describe the area where I saw it.  Either way, I got it and I was thrilled.  The bird was more striking looking than in the field guide.

I didn’t find any snakes, tarantulas or scorpions (I was carefully and cautiously looking) but I did find a couple different western lizards. Zipping along and under rocks were greater earless lizards and common side-blotched lizards.

Left, greater earless lizard.  Right, common side-blotched lizard.  © S. Weiss

There were not many other birds at that spot, just some house finches, house sparrows, a common raven and the aforementioned, white-crowned sparrows.  That didn’t matter because I got my black-throated sparrow.