Petrified Forest National Park - Birds (U.S. National Park Service)

Photo by Marge Post/NPS

Raven on a favorite perch.

Like many national park areas, Petrified Forest National Park provides a unique place of protection and preservation. Here, birds can find food and shelter that may not be available in other regions on their journeys from habitat to habitat. Patches of healthy, undeveloped habitats are found in the modern fragmented landscape, connected by corridors such as Petrified Forest National Park.

Petrified Forest has a variety of habitats. Raptors, songbirds, and ground birds can be found in the grassland. Riparian corridors provide food and shelter for warblers, vireos, avocets, killdeer, and others. The exotic and native trees and shrubs around the Visitor Center and Rainbow Forest Museum provide home for western tanagers, hermit warblers, and house finches. The park also offers sightings of vagrant shore birds and rare Eastern birds not seen often in Arizona. Rarities, such as black-throated blue warbler, have been found by Maricopa Audubon Society members. September and early October seem to be the best time to visit the area to see these fascinating vagrants.

Like the canary in the mine, birds gauge the health and safety of our environment. By watching birds, noting species, and the migration of species, we can understand the changes in our environment.

Abridged Bird List for Petrified Forest National Park
R=Residents found in the park 4 months of the year or more
M=Migrants usually found twice a year during migration
O=Occasionals or accidentals that have wandered from their normal range.

Grebes	Swifts, Hummingbirds	Gnatcatchers, Kinglets
Least Grebe M	Vaux’s Swift M	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher M
Western Grebe M	White-throated Swift M	Black-tailed Gnatcatcher M
Pied-billed Grebe M	Anna’s Hummingbird R	Golden-crowned Kinglet M
Eared Grebe M	Broad-tailed Hummingbird R	Ruby-crowned Kinglet M
Pelicans	Rufous Hummingbird R	Pipits, Waxwings
American White Pelican M	Allen’s Hummingbird R	Water Pipit M
Herons, Bitterns	Calliope Hummingbird R	Bohemian Waxwing M
Great Blue Heron M	Kingfishers	Cedar Waxwing M
Green Heron M	Belted Kingfisher M	Silky Flycatchers
Snowy Egret M	Woodpeckers	Phainopepla O
Black Crowned Night Heron M	Northern Flicker R	Shrikes
American Bittern M	Acorn Woodpecker M	Loggerheaded Shrike R
Geese, Ducks	Lewis Woodpecker M	Starlings
Canada Goose M	Yellow-bellied Sapsucker M	European Starling R
Mallard M	Williamson’s Sapsucker M	Weaver Finches
Northern Pintail M	Hairy Woodpecker M	House Sparrow R
Green-winged Teal M	Downy Woodpecker M	Vireos
Blue-winged Teal M	Ladder-backed Woodpecker M	Hutton’s Vireo M
Cinnamon Teal M	Tyrant Flycatcher	Plumbeous Vireo M
American Wigeon M	Western Kingbird R	Warbling Vireo M
Northern Shoveler M	Cassin’s Kingbird R	Gray Vireo M
Ring-necked Duck M	Black Phoebe M	Wood Warblers
Bufflehead M	Say’s Phoebe R	Black-and-white Warbler M
Ruddy Duck M	Western Wood-peewee R	Yellow Warbler M
Ibises	Olive-sided Flycatcher M	Yellow-rumped Warbler M
White-faced Ibis M	Vermilion Flycatcher O	Townsend’s Warbler M
Vultures, Hawks, Eagles	N. Beardless-tyrannulet O	MacGillivray’s Warbler M
Turkey Vulture M	Hammond’s Flycatcher R	Common Yellowthroat M
Northern Goshawk M	Dusky Flycatcher R	American Redstart O
Sharp-shinned Hawk M	Cordilleran Flycatcher R	Yellow-breasted Chat M
Cooper’s Hawk M	Ash-throated Flycatcher R	Wilson’s Warbler M
Red-tailed Hawk R	Larks	Ovenbird M
Swainson’s Hawk M	Horned Lark R	Northern Waterthrush M
Rough-legged Hawk M	Swallows	Red-faced Warbler O
Ferruginous Hawk R	Violet-green Swallow M	Meadowlarks, Blackbirds, Orioles
Northern Harrier R	Tree Swallow M	Western Meadowlark R
Merlin M	Bank Swallow M	Hooded Oriole O
American Kestrel R	N. Rough-winged Swallow M	Scott’s Oriole O
Prairie Falcon R	Barn Swallow M	Northern Oriole R
Osprey M	Cliff Swallow R	Brewer’s Blackbird M
Golden Eagle R	Purple Martin M	Brown-headed Cowbird R
Bald Eagle R	Jays, Crows	Great-tailed Grackle M
Peregrine Falcon M	Steller’s Jay O	Yellow-headed Blackbird M
Quail	Scrub Jay M	Red-winged Blackbird M
Scaled Quail R	Common Raven R	Tanagers
Rails, Coots	American Crow O	Western Tanager R
Virginia Rail M	Pinyon Jay O	Hepatic Tanager O
Sora Rail M	Clark’s Nutcracker O	Summer Tanager O
American Coot M	Titmouse, Bushtits	Grosbeaks, Finches, Sparrows, Buntings
Shorebirds, Gulls	Mountain Chickadee M	Black-headed Grosbeak M
American Avocet R	Juniper Titmouse M	Blue Grosbeak R
Mountain Plover M	Bushtit M	Lazuli Bunting R
Killdeer R	Nuthatches	Painted Bunting O
Long-billed Curlew O	White-breasted Nuthatch M	Indigo Bunting O
Whimbrel O	Red-breasted Nuthatch M	Evening Bunting M
Lesser Yellowlegs M	Pygmy Nuthatch M	House Finch R
Spotted Sandpiper M	Creepers, Wrens	Pine Siskin M
Baird’s Sandpiper M	Brown Creeper M	American Goldfinch M
Least Sandpiper M	Bewick’s Wren M	Cassin’s Finch R
Western Sandpiper M	Marsh Wren M	Lesser Goldfinch M
Willet M	Canyon Wren O	Red Crossbill O
Wilson’s Phalarope M	House Wren M	Green-tailed Towhee M
Herring Gull O	Rock Wren R	Spotted Towhee M
Ring-billed Gull O	Mockingbird, Thrashers	California Towhee M
Franklin’s gull O	Northern Mockingbird R	Lark Bunting M
Pigeons, Doves	Gray Catbird O	Savannah Sparrow M
Band-tailed Pigeon M	Brown Thrasher O	Baird’s Sparrow M
Mourning Dove R	Bendire’s Thrasher R	Vesper Sparrow R
Inca Dove O	Curve-billed Thrasher R	Lark Sparrow R
Cuckoos, Roadrunners	Sage Thrasher R	Rufous-crowned Sparrow M
Greater Roadrunner R	Thrushes, Bluebirds, Solitaires	Black-throated Sparrow R
Owls	American Robin M	Sage Sparrow R
Western Screech Owl O	Hermit Thrush M	Dark-eyed Junco M
Great Horned Owl R	Swainson’s Thrush M	Chipping Sparrow R
Burrowing Owl R	Western Bluebird M	Brewer’s Sparrow M
Long-eared Owl R	Mountain Bluebird M	White-crowned Sparrow M
Short-eared Owl O	Townsend’s Solitaire R	White-throated Sparrow M
Goatsuckers		Fox Sparrow M
Common Poor-will M		Lincoln’s Sparrow M
Common Nighthawk M		Song Sparrow R
		Chestnut-collared Longspur O