It wasn't until, I believe, our third trip together to the Sonoran desert that Jessa and I finally saw a wild Harris' hawk. And we had been spending time in good, high-quality Sonoran desert habitat—camped on BLM land near Marana the first go-round (though our proximity to nesting great horned owls may not have helped our chances), and always spending as much time as possible at Picacho Peak, Tucson Mountain Park, and Saguaro National Park. In retrospect, maybe that was our mistake; that first Harris' was in a decidedly residential area on the southeast edge of Tucson, and subsequent sightings have usually been closer to civilisation than wilderness.
On our most recent visit, we were driving in from Gold Canyon toward Tucson, watching the transition from Chihuahuan to Sonoran desert—that is to say, we suddenly started seeing saguaros—and spotted this Harris' near Oracle Junction at the base of the Catalinas. Perched majestically on an ancient saguaro? Of course not; a streetlamp at the junction of two highways.
No surprise, no complaints. This is exactly the sort of location I would normally expect to find redtails (and we see our share of those around Tucson and its environs as well). Both species are looking for the same things: prey and perches.
[Photos by Jessica Farrell-Churchill.]
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