Deb Hirt

1 week ago | muskogeephoenix.com | Deb Hirt

Writer has read several pieces of literature on the virtues of Baja California from the general peninsula to Sur, and naturally, Cabo at the very end of the peninsula. Over the years, the material has been intriguing, with much good advice, including a native guide and a driver that is an expert birder and knows the area well. Baja has just six endemics, but there are numbers of subspecies, which include the California Towhee and California Scrub-Jay.

2 weeks ago | muskogeephoenix.com | Deb Hirt

Late August 2025, a pair of Military Macaws were photographed at Big Bend National Park in Texas. This record may be the first confirmed, but this is not the first report. August 1992 provided data about a party of seven individuals in Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, Santa Cruz County, Arizona, attributed to Hurricane Lester. The Military Macaw is endangered in Mexico, where it has a weak stronghold, globally vulnerable, in 35 fragmented groups across 16 Mexican states.

3 weeks ago | muskogeephoenix.com | Deb Hirt

I could not stop without one more piece of warbler trivia. We're about due for this spring migrant, the Blackpoll Warbler. This larger warbler breeds in the boreal forest, and as a later arrival, this individual is about the last warbler migrant, weighing as much as a small coin, performing the longest migration over water of any songbird. It is named after its black cap, and in the fall it molts into green-yellow plumage, just like the Bay-breasted Warbler to make it even more confusing.

4 weeks ago | muskogeephoenix.com | Deb Hirt

Birding friends and myself were discussing warblers a few days ago, and it was a fun conversation, as naturally, the conversation revolved around identification, especially with their songs and calls. We all know how hard it can be to only hear the warbler and not see it, which can be very frustrating. I got a text asking me what sparrow sounds like an insect, and the first words out of my mouth was Grasshopper Sparrow.

1 month ago | muskogeephoenix.com | Deb Hirt

A secretive owl of the West that haunts the aspen, fir, ponderosa pine, and spruce will be no easy task for the uninitiated. They could be hard to hear for some, and they could even be in the company of the Northern Saw-whet Owl. Surprisingly, they are one of the most common in their 11 states, they feed simply, upon arthropods, and favor dry montane conifer forests with a mix of aspen and oak. Intrigued?