Gambel's Quail

These Quail are well established in Arizona, and are among the few birds that often take their young out into the open. They closely resemble the California Quail, but don't have the scaled effect on their flanks and belly. The chicks remind me of velociraptors, and are possibly the cutest birds in all of North America.

Mallards

The publicity agent for ducks, the Mallard is a finely colored specimen and a romantic. However, Mallard's can also cross-breed with a variety of foreign, introduced or escaped ducks, in addition to some other American ducks and even some of the smaller geese. These moments of confused passion result in the mottled or manky mallards often seen in city parks and the like. This is one of the few species with which I find the female birds to be prettier than the males.

Verdin

Verdins have a family all to themselves. Small and active, they inhabit the southwestern U.S. Verdin's heads are a strong yellow, and while the breast and back is a uniform whitish-grey to brown, they have unique red shoulder patches that require more than a passing observation. Some books show there to be a slight dark streak across the eye as well, and this seems to vary on an individual basis.
Living in Arizona, Verdins were one of the first birds I observed that helped me appreciate the beauty and detail in many birds I otherwise wouldn't have given a second look. Their yellow and red really isn't very visible unless they're very close, and it really impressed upon me how much detail the casual observer can miss if a bird seems pretty bland from far away.

I recently got to capture a fun series of shots of a Verdin eating lantana berries for dinner. They were quite a mouthful, but she was determined. (Click on images for larger view).

The setting sun always lends a wonderful glow to pictures that makes up for its fading light.

With the sun going down, Ms. Verdin decides it's chow-time.

I've been told it is not polite to watch someone eat...something about it being undignified.

One of the last ripe berries. You can see how the clusters have been selectively cleared out.

Her beak has to open pretty wide to swallow this berry, but she doesn't seem too worried about it. I was very glad Ms. Verdin let me join her for dinner.

These are some of my earlier Verdin photos. All of my Verdin pictures have been taken at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

White-Crowned Sparrow

The White-Crowned Sparrow has a striped cap that stands in sharp contrast to the normal, mottled browns and grays that cover most of the sparrow's body. The cap also accentuates the sparrow's unusually yellow beak.
Since seeing them briefly in California, I've now seen many of these regal Sparrows at the Water Ranch in Gilbert. With their pretty caps and pretty songs, I prefer them to the House Sparrows any day.

They descend on Arizona and many other warmer states en masse as the autumn turns to winter, and then they head up north with as it turns to spring.

juvenile

Acorn Woodpecker

The acorn woodpecker is a common woodpecker with some uncommon characteristics. It is one of the few uniformly black-backed woodpeckers, and also has a unique facial mask going from the top of its breast up to the forehead. Additionally, it has a yellow eye, and I'm not aware of any other woodpecker than the much larger (and most awesome) Pileated Woodpecker and the (much extinct) Ivory-Billed Woodpecker that also has the yellow eye.

I normally like to provide a close-up photo of the bird if the picture is of the appropriate quality. However, here I found the background to actually be as attractive as the bird. The afternoon foggy lighting and the well-weathered wood were a beautiful combination. 

American Crow

Lots of people assume Crows are these disgusting, Machiavellian scavengers. They may have a point, but sometimes they can look decent if they're up in a tree.

Western Scrub-Jay/Pacific Coast

The Scrub has several North American manifestations. The Pacific Coast Jay has a much darker hue of blue compared to the interior Scrub Jay, and the Florida Scrub Jay is almost white on the back, with its wings and tail whiter as well. These Pacific Scrub Jays were fantastic models in the Big Sur afternoon lighting:

Steller's Jay

The Steller's Jay is the darkest jay, but still has a lot of variation within the blue on its wings and tail. It additionally has some very interesting coloration of its forehead--I guess I'd call them thunderbolts. This setting in Big Sur California made for pretty great photography.

Brown Pelican

The Beach Patrol! Flying in formation, these Brown Pelicans keep an eye out for any misdemeanors or fish. They also don't mind being photographed out of focus. I asked them.

Dark-Eyed Junco/Oregon-Race

There are fives subspecies comprising the junco hyemalis group. The Oregon-Race is the most widespread in the West, and sports a dark hood with its buffy back, yellow beak, white-streaked tail, and dark eye. Slate colored juncos are uniformly darker while the pink-sided juncos have a rosy tint to their sides. These Oregon-Race juncos prefer the undergrowth, and are very charming companions on a woodland walk.

California Gull

A normal-looking gull in most respects, the California Gull is set apart by its red eye, which the Glaucous-Winged Gull lacks, and its black wingtips, which the Herring Gull lacks. I have no idea what other Gull chicks look like, but apparently the California Gulls favor a leopard-like disguise for their young.