Calculated to be the second most common land bird in North America, during the winter the Dark-eyed Junco is readily seen. It usually travels in small flocks and associates with other species of small birds. It is also a frequent visitor to seed feeders. During the summer pairs occupy territories in open coniferous and deciduous forest. Its nest is in a protected depression on the forest floor and lined with grass, moss and twigs. The young are fed insects.
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Found primarily along forested water ways, rivers and swamps, this hawk feeds on frogs, fish, snakes and crabs and occasionally small mammals and insects. The large, bulky stick nest is placed in the high crotch of a cottonwood, sycamore or mesquite tree. In the desert southwest, this hawk spends considerable time sitting in the shade of tall canopy trees. It is most obvious when it soars during warm parts of the day high overhead.
This ground bird spends both the winter and summer in short-grass prairies and barren fields. During the winter the Chestnut-collared Longspur is almost always found in flocks of five to 50 individuals and frequently associates with Horned Larks and McCown\'s Longspurs. In the summer the male sings its courtship song in a low ascending flight over the territory. Seeds are the main fare in the winter, but insects are more important in the summer. Males look like females during the winter. The nest is a shallow depression in the ground and hidden under a bunch of grass.
Perched on an open branch or fence post, this large flycatcher patiently waits for large insects to fly within striking range. The Cassin\s Kingbird shows remarkable agility in pursuing and capturing these insects in mid-air. In late summer this kingbird switches more to fruits. It occurs in pine-oak woodlands and desert riparian areas where it places a bulky nest on a high horizontal tree branch near the trunk'
A resident of desert slopes and vegetated gulleys, the Canyon Towhee is sensitive to human intrusions. It has been pushed back from urban and suburban expansion into more remote parts of the desert. Its bulky nest is made of twigs, grass and bark and placed in a bush or low tree near the ground. It runs on the ground like a large rodent and feeds by using both feet simultaneously to scratch up seeds and insects from the leaf litter.
Often traveling together in large family groups of up to 30 or 40, the Bushtit attracts many other species that form mixed foraging flocks in a wide range of open wet to dry forest types. The food is primarily small insects gleaned from leaves and vegetation. Their conspicuous hanging nest looks like a gourd woven with twigs, moss, lichens, grass and spider webbing. Although one pair lays the eggs, many other individuals help feed the young.\r\n
This small flycatcher occurs in loose colonies in montane pine-oak woodlands. It forages from low to mid levels of the trees by hawking insects out of the air or occasionally snatching them off of leaves. The nest is cup-shaped and placed on a horizontal branch at mid to high levels in the crotch of a tree. It is constructed from grass, leaves and hair.
The monstrous bill of the Blue Grosbeak helps it eat seeds and fruits, but it is also useful for eating an occasional snail. This species is a conspicuous resident in open woodlands, thickets and riparian shrubs. It returns relatively late in the Spring and nests well into the summer when many other species are finished. Its nest is built of twigs and usually weaves pieces of paper or bark into the outside. Late in the summer just before they migrate south it often forms flocks that feed in fields.
A species typical of heavy undergrowth in mixed broad-leaf and coniferous forests, this warbler places its bulky and moss-lines nest in a dense tangle of vegetation low in a bush or coniferous tree. It feeds almost exclusively on insects found on leaves and bark in the summer. During Fall and Winter it includes a large amount of fruits and seeds in its diet.
Common in scrubby forests of dry areas and lower foothills, the Ash-throated Flycatcher eats insects it catches with its broad bill in mid-air. In the fall and winter, it also eats fruits. The nest is in a hole of a tree, Saguaro Cactus or fence post, and occasionally the adults add a cast snake skin to its lining of fur and feathers. It has been known to drive woodpeckers from their holes to take over a cavity.