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Deserts and Sagebrush Plains

113 Bird Species

Abert's Towhee

This large pale sparrow-like bird is recognized by its rather uniform buffy, clay-brown plumage and poorly-defined black face mask, which contrasts with the pale bill. Underparts are slightly paler than the upperparts and can show a bit of pinkish cast. The tail is darker than the body and the undert more...

Length: 21 cm Wingspan: 30 cm

American Kestrel

The smallest of North America's raptors, this extremely colorful and delicate falcon shows a striking head pattern with two vertical dark bars and a dark spot on the nape. Adult Male: The wings and crown are blue-gray, with a rufous spot on top of the crown. The back is rufous with black barring. The more...

Length: 23 cm Wingspan: 51 cm

Barn Owl

A large, pale, long-legged owl with no ear tufts and a very unique face pattern. Adult male has golden-brown back, pale underparts, scattered dark spotting, and pronounced facial disc with dark eyes in white, heart-shaped face. Female is like male but with darker orange breast and more dark spotting. more...

Length: 41 cm Wingspan: 107 cm

Bendire's Thrasher

This desert thrasher can be confused with the larger and more common Curve-billed Thrasher. Like most thrashers, Bendire's is long-tailed and short-winged. The upperparts are a uniform buffy gray-brown. The tail is slightly darker with small pale tips on the outer tail feathers. Compared to most othe more...

Length: 23 cm Wingspan: 33 cm

Bewick's Wren

This wren is easily recognized by its long tail, which it flips side to side. Also by its bold whitish supercilium, and by its loud scolding vocalizations. Upperparts are fairly plain, and range in color from warm reddish brown to dull gray-brown. The tail is proportionally longer than those of other more...

Length: 13 cm Wingspan: 18 cm

Black Rosy-Finch

This species is much darker than the other two Rosy-Finches. The bill is black in summer, yellowish in winter, with white feathers covering the nostrils. In flight, the underside of the wings appear silvery on the flight feathers, similar to the other Rosy-Finches. Adult Male: Blackish-brown overall more...

Length: 14 cm Wingspan: 24 cm

Black-billed Magpie

This black and white bird is nearly crow-sized and has an extremely long tail that is about double the body length. Bill black, culmen curved. Eye brownish. Head, breast and back black. Belly and shoulder-patch white. Wings greenish-blue. Legs, vent and under tail coverts black. At close range the ta more...

Length: 48 cm Wingspan: 63 cm

Black-chinned Hummingbird

This species is very similar in appearance to Ruby-throated Hummingbird. In all plumages, note the fairly long and slightly decurved bill, the dull crown, and the wide club-shaped outer primaries. Male: Emerald green above. The underparts are dull white with gray-green sides and flanks forming a dark more...

Length: 9 cm Wingspan: 10 cm

Black-chinned Sparrow

This sparrow has a slender build and is somewhat junco-like in appearance. The long tail is square or slightly notched. The entire head and underparts are gray, with a small pink bill and pink legs and feet. The back and wings are brown with dark streaks. In alternate plumage, males have black throat more...

Length: 12 cm Wingspan: 23 cm

Black-tailed Gnatcatcher

This species, formerly lumped with California Gnatcatcher, is best distinguished by the tail pattern. From below, the tail appears mostly black, with white spots on the ends of the outer two sets of tail feathers. Alternate Male: Blue-gray above, with a black cap, white eye ring, mostly black tail, a more...

Length: 10 cm Wingspan: 15 cm

Black-throated Sparrow

This sparrow is instantly recognized by its bold markings. The face is gray, darkening to black near the bill, with a bold white supercilium and malar stripe. The black throat extends onto the breast forming a triangular black bib. The upperparts are plain brownish-gray. The tail is blackish with a w more...

Length: 12 cm Wingspan: 22 cm

Blue Grosbeak

Smaller than other grosbeaks, and similar to Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeaks are recognized by their heavy bills and prominent wing bars. Adult Male: Dark metallic blue overall, with blackish tail and wings, and two chestnut wing bars. At close range, the back shows indistinct darker streaks. The lore more...

Length: 16 cm Wingspan: 27 cm

Brewer's Sparrow

Sometimes the best field mark is no field mark. This certainly applies to this slim sparrow of the sagebrush flats. Upperparts are light brown with dark streaks on the back and blurry streaks on the rump. The head shows a finely streaked crown that usually lacks a pale central crown stripe, and a fai more...

Length: 12 cm Wingspan: 20 cm

Bronzed Cowbird

Male is stocky, all dark, with glossy wings and tail, thick neck, heavy bill, and red eye. Females are duller, varying from gray to black, darker in eastern populations. Juvenile is grayish brown, lacks red eye, and has diffuse streaks underneath. Head and bill are larger than those of more widesprea more...

Length: 22 cm Wingspan: 36 cm

Brown-crested Flycatcher

Like other flycatchers in the genus Myiarchus, this species has a long tail and a large head with a short bushy crest. Two subspecies occur in North America. The western subspecies is noticeably larger with a larger bill. The eastern subspecies is smaller and nearly identical to Great Crested Flycatc more...

Length: 18 cm Wingspan: 33 cm

Buff-collared Nightjar

This little nightjar is slightly smaller and shorter-tailed than the similar Whip-poor-will. The bird gets its name from the buffy collar that completely surrounds the neck. On males, the front portion of the collar is white. Plumage is grayish overall, with black, brown, and buff barring and spottin more...

Length: 22 cm Wingspan: 38 cm