The wide variety of birds found in the pristine Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests can provide you many memorable moments. Bird watching is a good way to enjoy your national forests. The knowledge and appreciation that can come from this activity will help you realize what a treasure these lands are.

Bird Watchers from all over the Country visit Greer and some have identified between 70-80 different species in a single day. See how many you can spot!

Click here to see Birds that are Permanent Residents of the White Mountains.

  • Birdlife Yellow Warbler, Arizona
  • Birdlife Pinyon Jay, Arizona
  • Birdlife Hering, Arizona
  • Birdlife Bridled Titmouse, AZ

Checklist for Birds that are WInter Residents of the White Mountains. / Checklist for Birds that are Summer Residents of the White Mountains.

If you’re looking for the best summer birding opportunities in the White Mountains, you can find several uncommon and locally nesting birds such as dusky and willow flycatchers, Clark’s nutcracker, gray catbird, green-tailed towhee, Lincoln’s sparrow and golden-crowned kinglet. Summer warblers can include the yellow-rumped, Grace’s, red-faced, MacGillivray’s and Virginia’s. Osprey, double-crested cormorant and great blue heron nest along River Reservoir and ponds at the Greer Lodge Resort. A wide range of waterfowl can also be seen including Canada goose, common merganser, mallard and cinnamon teal. Be on a look out for the American dipper and spotted sandpiper foraging in the rocky areas in the Little Colorado River.

Checklist for Birds that can be seen occasionally (accidental) in the White Mountains. / Checklist for Birds that are Migratory and can be viewed during the Spring and Fall, in the White Mountains.

Have you ever noticed that when seasons change, the birds you see and hear change? Many kinds of birds follow the seasons, traveling north in the spring to next in the United States and Canada during warm weather. When temperatures begin to cool in the fall, these birds head back south to Mexico, Central and South America, or to the Caribbean, where they find food and warmth. This almost magical yearly movement from south to north, and back again, is migration. Because these birds live in the New World, and spend part of the year in the tropics, they are called neotropical migrants.Birds fly free across all borders. They fly where their ancestors have been flying for millions of years, long before people came into this continent and created countries with boundaries.

Often neotropical migrants follow “flyways” above wetlands or rivers that connect Mexico, the United States and Canada. These small birds can cover thousands of miles during their seasonal journeys and they need to rest along the way. During these stopovers they also need food to eat and water to drink.

We know many of these birds by their musical voices: think of the songs of warblers or orioles. Others we know by their brilliant colors, such as vermillion flycatchers, scarlet tanagers or flashing hummingbirds. Please respect the land and the wild things which depend on it.

  • This information is the product of a partnership between the USDA Forest Service and the White Mountain Audubon Society. Click here to see our Bird Photo Gallery.
  • Click here to see view Greer Arizona Area Map.
  • Click here to visit the White Mountain Audubon Society Website.
  • Bird Watching in Greer, Arizona

    Spot to 80 unique bird species in one day!

    View Photos