Tucson Twitch Take Two

I tried to guard my excitement, but I couldn't believe my luck. I had decided to hike up the Proctor road trail towards the Whitehouse Picnic Area on a whim. Now I was standing besides the stream with a handful of other birders who had just seen the continuing White-throated Thrush (Turdus assimilis) fly down into the vegetation across from me. As the excited observers talked I scanned the Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana) across the stream. My eyes may have been playing tricks on me, but I kept getting the impression of movement down low and partially obscured in foliage. I finally brought my binoculars to my eyes and there, sitting inconspicuously, was the Thrush. 

White-throated Thrush (Turdus assimilis)

Whitehouse Picnic Area, Pima County, AZ

Jan. 14, 2019

 I had left Las Cruces around 3:00am and headed west on I-10. Its a pretty straight forward drive to Madera Canyon, and I made good time, making it to the Proctor Road parking area just after sunrise. I was a little irked that I had to come back for this bird, after missing it with Roger Clark a few days earlier on our way back from chasing the Red-flanked Bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) in Los Angeles, California. My frustration wasn't so much a result of missing the bird, but rather at having had endured a mostly unpleasant stakeout at the hands of some of the other birders present. Parking in no-parking zones, approaching stake-out shrubs too closely, playing tapes, it was rather astounding frankly. I did run into several acquaintances, which helped, most seemed just as bewildered as me. My goal for this second try had been to get there early and get out as soon as possible. 

The first major frustration came when I ran across a group of birders standing off-trail at about 9:15am who had apparently seen the bird for several minutes (but apparently didn't feel compelled to get the word out). One member of the group had apparently flushed the Thrush when they walked off-trail towards the stream near the bat boxes (close to the Proctor Rd parking area). The combination of exhaustion and hunger meant I really wasn't in the mood to hear these people gloat about having "walked up to the bird," especially when I had been searching for nearly two hours already. I congratulated them and made my way up the trail, hoping maybe the activity at that spot would encourage the bird to make its way towards me.  

About an hour later the trail became so choked with people shuffling around I started losing my mind. Most seemed to be going through the motions, hanging around and waiting for someone to find the bird. I seriously needed a break, and this chase was quickly becoming a sequel to my first failed attempt at this bird. Fortunately, my desire for space paid off as I talked to some of the other birders who seemed to be seriously searching for the bird. Not five minutes after talking to one group I got word that they had just seen the bird. 

Range of White-throated Thrush (Turdus assimilis) based on eBird data

A long overdue first Arizona record, White-throated Thushes are encountered regularly as far north as Alamos, Sonora, MX (and perhaps Yecora, Sonora, MX, further north than Alamos). It is certainly a possibility the species occurs much closer to the sky islands of AZ and NM in northern Sonora/Chihuahua but the danger associated with surveying these borderland environs means this area receives little coverage

After relocating the bird a few more birders began trickling over to the spot. While distant (across the stream) and difficult to pick out from the undergrowth, the Thrush was cooperative in that it sat still for at least half an hour. Eventually everyone who had been looking for the Thrush made it to the spot and managed to see the bird. I noticed two birders crossing the stream, apparently trying to get closer views, photos, and perhaps hoping to see the bird's namesake throat (it was facing away from the crowd of birders that had gathered). At this point I left, so I don't know if the bird was flushed or not. Regardless, it was exactly the sort of behavior that had so infuriated me during this stakeout. To me it seems pretty selfish to risk flushing the bird when there are 30-40 other birders watching it because you want to get better photos (not to mention the energetic affect it has on the bird itself). 

A slightly different posture showing a little more of the throat and orbital ring.

White-throated Thrush (Turdus assimilis)

Whitehouse Picnic Area, Pima County, AZ

Jan. 14, 2019

Situational discomfort aside, I am very happy I decided to take a second try for this bird. I had a day or two before the start of my last semester at NMSU, so it worked out in that sense, and given the high foot traffic, I my guess is the bird will become increasingly difficult to see as more people chase it around. In fairness, most of my fellow observers were fine, the problem lies in that it only takes one or two badly behaved individuals to ruin things for everyone. It was a much closer drive than the LRGV, and after birding in Sonora, MX and looking for this species last winter, I appreciated the closure in getting to see one in Madrean Pine-oak habitat. 

I had read several people noting that the records of White-throated Thrush in southern Texas often follow severe cold fronts. Southeastern AZ (and northern Sonora, MX) had received an impressive amount of snow a week or so before this bird was discovered, so this record seems (at least generally speaking) to conform to this anecdotal pattern.