Elegant Trogons have been breeding in SE Arizona canyons for years. They like the cavities in the creamy white trunks of our Sycamores. The barking call of the males can be heard every spring and summer. But some are now staying during the winter. They feed on Pyracantha Berries (planted) when the endemic Madrones are bare. This year at Madera Canyon the Trogon shares them with a White-throated Thrush, a singular migrant from Mexico. That one, of course, drives the birding community nuts. They stand forty people deep around the bush armed with their huge lenses on tripods.
I much preferred to peacefully paint the pretty Trogon ...
Several male Pyrrhuloxia or Desert Cardinals used to defend territories in our back and frontyard and feed on the very hot little peppers that I really just keep for them, the Verdins and the Trashers. But this spring I have not seen any Pyrrholoxia. Is it just too early? But they don't migrate and my friends in Green Valley see plenty. I hope my new painting brings them back to us!
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