"Wingtips"
Our Monthly Newsletter
Get out and get into nature with our growing community of like-minded folks who value the outdoors and fellowship. Read our newsletter to get a taste of what we've been up to lately.
NEW! Pinyon Jay Monitoring Workshop April 19 in Prescott
Sponsored by Audubon Southwest and hosted by the Natural History Institute
A two-hour workshop on how you can participate in this citizen science program.
Granite Creek Clean-up
On April 20, our PAS team will join in the annual Granite Creek Clean-up!
Prescott Audubon is a regular financial supporter of the annual Granite Creek Clean-ups, and we also a enter a PAS team to get out and pick up some trash! Birdsong and glimpses of birds always help make the morning fly by. In past years, our teams have collected lots of plastic, paper and cardboard, lumber, pipe, and the occaisional tire-- several bags of trash. Meeting and making friends with other like-minded people is a bonus!
To join our 2024 PAS team contact [email protected]
Bird of the Month :
Northern Harrier
Each month, we publish an article in a local magazine, "5enses" . We share these articles here on our website.
Just FYI !
What's This Duck?
Hybrid Teal on Watson Lake
Sometimes we humans need to categorize things, and birds are our favorite subject here at PAS. We know the teal by species –Blue-winged , Cinnamon, and Northern Shoveler, all in the genus Spatula. (Green-wing Teal is in the genus Anas) . But birds occasionally disregard our human-made categories and stray a bit. Gulls, hummers and ducks, in particular, come to mind.
Doug Iverson captured a striking example of teal hybridization in these photos he took on Watson Lake recently. What do you think? Shoveler/Blue-winged? Shoveler/Blue-winged/Cinnamon? Did Green-wing get in the mix? Stay tuned.
Update! Now the answer --- this bird is a Cinnamon Teal X Northern Shoveler hybrid. The white crescent next to the bill is not from a Blue-winged Teal, despite appearances. Some shovelers (look up Australasian Shoveler if you want to dig further) actually do have a white crescent --so it must be somewhere in shoveler genes.
Mystery solved.
Read the Results of Our 2023 Cuckoo Surveys on the
Upper Verde River
Our surveys are essential for the protection of Yellow-billed Cuckoo, considered to be a threatened species by Federal and State wildlife managers alike. Our data helps wildlife managers to protect this sensitive habitat along the Verde.
Just in - a summary of our 2023 Cuckoo surveys!
2024 Scholarship Winners
Melissa Fontecilla, from Chino Valley, is a senior at Oregon State University, pursuing a bachelor of science degree in Natural Resource Management. Jeremy Gardner is a junior at Prescott College, pursuing a bachelor of arts degree in Environmental Studies.
Melissa Fontecilla (with her husband, Alphonso), birding in Fain Park, PV.
Jeremy Gardner, River Ambassador, along the Verde River
Limited Public Access to The City of Prescott Airport Water Reclamation Facility (Recharge Ponds)
As of October 16, 2023, public access to the Recharge Ponds is limited to individuals who have signed a Waiver and have obtained a Keycard from the City of Prescott. The Keycard allows access to the Recharge Ponds seven days a week from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset.
Please find more information about the access, Keycard and Waiver here in this PDF file.
To obtain your Keycard, please make an appointment with the City of Prescott Financial & Business Operations Manager, Public Works, by calling 928-777-1130 ext: 5003, or by emailing [email protected].
Yes, Administration is Important, too--
Join our Team! We Welcome You (and your skills)
All-volunteer organizations such as Prescott Audubon survive thanks to help from all who believe in the organization's mission. At PAS, our focus is on celebrating birds and the habitat we share. We want to thank our officers and board members for their efforts to keep this busy & multi-dimensional team that is Prescott Audubon somewhat organized and heading in the right direction.
All the board members share all the tasks for steering this little ship, and we owe them a big debt of gratitude. But it take more than the officers. If you are organized, an artist, a media or IT person, a retired attorney, a bird-lover, a writer--- You get the idea --we welcome your help and we are always happy to meet new members, so don't be shy!
What would you like to do for Prescott Audubon?
Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owls
To reuse is to recycle! In 2020, we built some hack boxes for our American Kestrel Nestbox and Release Program. Now they will help the Pygmy Owls.
Hack boxes provide a safe place for fledgling raptors to roost as well as a place to learn to fly and hunt before being released into the wild. We no longer need our boxes for the kestrels, so we are donating them the the AZ Game & Fish Dept. They will head to southern Arizona to assist the AZGFD with their efforts to help the tiny Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owls. Yeah!
Kestrel Nestbox Program
American Kestrels are on the decline, and limited nesting sites are part of that declline. We have had great success with our American Kestrel nestbox installations, and the 2022 nesting season is no exception. If you happen upon a Kestrel with legband(s), please report your sighting and location to [email protected].