Luckily for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme, #Black&Red, I happen to have a bunch of photos of my vermilion flycatcher pal from Tucson, Arizona. #Black&Red #Birds

We enjoyed a hike at Fort Bowie National Historic Site, located in southeastern Arizona, this past Saturday. The ocotillo were in full bloom, and this black-throated sparrow seemed to be admiring the blossoms with us. Ocotillo grow 10-15 feet (3-4.5 m) tall. #birds #arizona #nationalparks

These cinnamon teal were among a couple of thousand other ducks at Cochise Lake near Willcox, Arizona, last week. The lake hosts a hundred different migratory bird species over the winter. The Dos Cabezas rock formation, a southeastern Arizona landmark, is on the right. #Birds #Arizona #Migration.

Having not seen (or heard) curve-billed thrashers in a while, I'd forgotten how talkative they can be. This one had things to say earlier this week in Willcox, Arizona. #birds #arizona

I was very excited to first hear, and then see, this Pyrrhuloxia very near our campground in Willcox, Arizona, yesterday. It was a long way off in the distance, but a lifer for me. Now, I'm off to continue practicing how to pronounce "Pyrrhuloxia." #birds #arizona

Another view of the venerable verdin, photographed in Tucson, Arizona, late last month. These birds are _tiny_: only 3.5 to 4.5 inches (9-11 cm) long and weighing 0.2 to 0.3 of an ounce (5-8 g) -- for reference, that's significantly smaller than a black-capped chickadee. #Birds #Tucson #Arizona

This American robin was among several others enjoying a bounty of chokecherries last summer at Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming. Photo taken last summer. #BirdOfTheDay #Snacks #Snacking #Birds #NationalParks #Wyoming

We've enjoyed spending the month of March in several different Arizona cities, and I think these show the diversity of the state's birds: a cactus wren (AZ state bird, Scottsdale), a Gila woodpecker (Fort McDowell), a neotropic cormorant, and a verdin (both Tucson). #BirdOfTheDay #BestOfTheMonth

I spend a lot of time in campgrounds' dog parks (as does my dog), and the parks' trees provide good opportunities to photograph birds that are used to having people (and dogs) around. This is a vermilion flycatcher in Tucson, Arizona, that didn't mind its picture being taken. #birds #arizona #tucson

I saw my first white-winged dove a couple of years ago in Willcox, Arizona, and I saw my second (this one) just this morning, also in Willcox. It's a fantastic town for birding, by the way -- I'll bet I see 10 or 12 new species for 2026 this week. #BirdOfTheDay #RuffledFeathers #birds

A pipevine swallowtail (sp. Battus philenor) visits a bougainvillea in Tucson, Arizona; photo taken last weekend. #bugsky #butterfly #butterflies #tucson #arizona

An Anna's hummingbird amid a palo verde tree in Tucson, Arizona; photo taken earlier this month. Palo verdes are the Arizona state tree. #birds #tucson #arizona

A Gila woodpecker in Fort McDowell, Arizona, earlier this month; when I cropped the photo, I realized he was not-so-subtly giving me the ol' side-eye. Beautiful wings on these #birds #arizona

good news the dogs are still good

I mean, St. Louis to Livingston, Montana, is 1,400 miles/20 hours of (straight, non-stop) driving. That’s almost three times the distance from, say, Munich to Paris.

A female great-tailed grackle awaits what the new day brings. The all-black males are pretty enough, but this is a case (among many) where I think the females are prettier. Photo taken earlier this month in Fort McDowell, Arizona, northeast of Phoenix. #birds #arizona

There's a dirt road along the campground at Ririe Reservoir in southeastern Idaho that has a lot of utility poles, and it's pretty common to find raptors, including red-tailed hawks, ospreys, and this American kestrel, at the top of them. #BirdOfTheDay #Speckled #birds #idaho

A male vermilion flycatcher being dramatic earlier this week in Tucson, Arizona. #birds #tucson #arizona

We'll be back at Trinidad Lake State Park in Colorado later this spring, and I'm hoping that this chipping sparrow I saw on the regular there last spring will still be around. He was a welcome sight, and listen, nearly every morning. #OpenBeak #BirdOfTheDay #birds #stateparks #colorado

This black-throated sparrow was chillin' at Arizona's Homolovi State Park, just east of Winslow, last spring. These are some of my favorite sparrows -- just gorgeous. #BirdOfTheDay #tricolor #stateparks #arizona

Good morning to all! There are a few vermilion flycatchers that hang out in this Tucson campground's dog park -- lots of fun to watch. This is a female vermilion flycatcher (clue to her being female: she's not vermilion) that allowed me to take a few photos of her last week. #birds #tucson #arizona

We're in a Tucson campground in which we've stayed before in past years, and in which we've seen one or two greater roadrunners during a two-week visit. We've seen roadrunners almost every day during this stop in 2026, and even saw a pair of them running together yesterday morning. #birds #tucson

A lesser goldfinch as it watched the sunrise last week in Tucson, Arizona. #BirdOfTheDay #finches #birds

This neotropic cormorant I saw in Tucson last week was a lifer for me, but I didn't know that until I was able to see that it wasn't a double-crested cormorant. Neotropics are smaller than double-cresteds and they're not ... double-crested. I love the way it's standing on the rock. #birds #tucson

I posted a different photo of this mallard pair several weeks ago; in this picture, they're (kind of) awake and seem to be considering starting their day in the Las Vegas Wash, southeast of the city. #BirdOfTheDay #MarriedCouples #birds

It may have not seemed to make much sense for the Cardinals of the National Football League to keep the name when it moved to Arizona from St. Louis (and previously Chicago). There is, however, a population in southern Arizona and New Mexico; this one was in Fort McDowell, Arizona, last week. #birds

I've been seeing lots of birds with yellow bellies lately, so when I saw this one from afar based on its size I thought it might be a Say's phoebe. Nope: it's a Gila woodpecker, whose bellies I rarely see because they're usually tucked right up against a saguaro. #BirdOfTheDay #TreePerchers #birds

A couple of birds in Tucson, Arizona, yesterday morning: a northern mockingbird on the left and a verdin, that had puh-lenty to say, on the right. #birds #tucson #arizona

Pied-billed grebes are such lovely and quiet waterbirds. #BirdOfTheDay #Reflections #birds

This isn't a great photo of either bird, but I'm still happy with it. The bald eagle had been circling in the sky for a little while, and then the red-tailed hawk decided it had had enough and encouraged the eagle to vacate the area. The eagle then expressed its displeasure. Also, moon. #luck #birds

After a rain storm the night before, this American robin took the morning waters in a gravel county road in eastern Colorado. This was from a couple of summers ago. #BirdOfTheDay #Splash #birds #colorado

For #BirdOfTheDay, here's a juniper titmouse, not atop a juniper but a pinon pine instead, at Trinidad Lake State Park in southern Colorado from last summer. #GrayDay #GreyDay #GraighDay #Birds #stateparks #Colorado

Tip o' the bright red cap to this saguaro-perched Gila woodpecker, who briefly showed me that he is, in fact, a he. I took this photo earlier this week in Fort McDowell, Arizona. #BirdOfTheDay #HeadShots #birds #arizona

Verdins are so much fun to watch; they're very acrobatic and quick to move around within trees and shrubs. This one was perched in a blue palo verde along the Verde River in Fort McDowell, Arizona, yesterday. #birds #arizona

This pretty song sparrow was #PerfectlyPerched on a ponderosa pine's pinnacle nearly every day we stayed at our campground near Custer State Park last summer. #BirdOfTheDay #SongBirds #birds #southdakota

This double-crested cormorant was spreading its wings on the Las Vegas Wash in mid-January. This species doesn't have as much preen oil as other water birds, so they spend a lot of time drying their wings out of the water. #BirdOfTheDay #WingsOpenNotFlying #birds #lasvegas #nevada

Phainopepla phever: catch it! Photograph taken yesterday along the Verde River in Fort McDowell, northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. #birds #arizona

Today's alt theme for #BirdOfTheDay is #Robins; here's one I photographed a couple of years ago at Lathrop State Park in southern Colorado. I have yet to see a robin so far in 2026, but we've been in the Mohave and Sonoran deserts of Nevada and Arizona all year. #birds #stateparks #colorado

This great egret was silently hunting along the Las Vegas Wash a year or so ago. They're big birds -- not quite as big as a great blue heron, but still plenty big. #BirdOfTheDay #SideProfiles #birds #lasvegas

I wrote a blog posting about the birds I saw in Las Vegas, Nevada, over the winter. Thirty-six different bird species observed in the Las Vegas metropolitan area in January and February: a great start to the year! #birds #lasvegas talesofthegoddard.com/2026/03/03/b...

This spotted towhee was happily singing in Santa Fe, New Mexico, a couple of springs ago. Santa Fe is on our itinerary for later this spring – I wonder if he'll still be there! #birdoftheday #ShoutItOut #birds #newmexico #santafe

This tiny verdin, sporting the alternate #birdoftheday theme of #yellow on its head, found a handy perch between two stems of a pipe organ cactus. I took this photo last Saturday at Springs Preserve, a botanic garden (and much, much more) just west of downtown Las Vegas, Nevada. #birds #lasvegas

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard, maxin' and relaxin' in a stream near Las Vegas, Nevada. I took this photo last month at Clark County Wetlands Park. #birds #lasvegas #nevada

In keeping with today's #birdoftheday theme, here's a black-tailed gnatcatcher on a branch at Clark County Wetlands Park near Las Vegas two weeks ago. There were gnats a-plenty for catching. Southern Nevada is at the northern end of black-tailed gnatcatchers' year-round range. #branchbirds #birds

'Twas a busy day on the Las Vegas Wash: a great blue heron, some common mergansers, and an American coot hang out on rocks on the water. Photo taken at Clark County Wetlands Park, located southeast of the city. #birds #lasvegas #nevada

Two common mergansers looking uncommonly cool and collected on the Las Vegas Wash, southeast of Las Vegas, last week. #birds #lasvegas #nevada

A ring-necked duck drake enjoys a morning on the waters of the Las Vegas Wash; photo taken earlier this month at Clark County Wetlands Park, southeast of Las Vegas. #birds #lasvegas #nevada

I saw my first black-crowned night heron last year, and now I've seen five or six this year. Birding is kind of unpredictable in many ways. Photo taken earlier this month at Clark County Wetlands Park, southeast of Las Vegas. #birds #lasvegas #nevada

This crissal thrasher was sitting atop a saltbush last Friday at Clark County Wetlands Park, southeast of Las Vegas -- that's Sam Boyd Stadium, former home of the UNLV Rebels football team, in the background. #birds #lasvegas #nevada

At Clark County Wetlands Park last week, this Say's phoebe took flight just as I took its picture but then immediately found a perch with better lighting on a nearby utility pole – very thoughtful. #birds #lasvegas #nevada