Park Monitoring
Parks are very important urban habitat for many native species. They can provide large areas of vegetation of often complex structure (both small plants and large with everything in between) that is watered regularly. Having a park or wash in your neighborhood will often help your chances of encouraging birds to use your yard as additional habitat to meet all their needs in their life cycle. The Park Monitoring aspect of the Tucson Bird Count is a very important data source and these counts are also lots of fun.
Parks that are a part of the Tucson Bird Count study are monitored 4 mornings a year from pre-established point count locations or in some cases transects. There are parks available that need bird surveyors or if you have a park or wash that you are interested in surveying we could look into setting up a new count site for you to monitor.
See the Park Monitoring Instructions for more details.Below is a map of the parks that are monitored for the Tucson Bird Count.
The following parks are available for adoption by a volunteer bird surveyor.
Current Park Sites: Sites currently being monitored are shown on the map below (Click on map for larger version).
Dates:Parks are visited one morning during each of the following 4 periods:
| Winter | Jan 15 - Feb 15 |
| Spring Migration/Breeding | Apr 15 - May 15 |
| Late Breeding | Jul 1 - Jul 31 |
| Fall Migration | Sep 1 - Sep 30 |
Requirements: a link to a new TBC data sheet can be found at http://www.tucsonaudubon.org/what-we-do/birding/tbc.html.
Group Leader Responsibilites:
- Handle registration with TBC, park adoption, coordination of group members at survey time, and data entry.
- Should only adopt areas that they can continue to monitor in future years.
- Must meet the TBC qualifications outlined in the Self-Test.
Other Group Member Responsiblities:
- Only those conducting point counts must meet the TBC qualifications outlined in the Self-Test.
- Those conducting point counts should also be able to monitor in future years.
Current Group Leaders
Note: Parks that are available for adoption are marked with a star (
).
| Park/Monitoring Area | Group Leader | ||
| Agua Caliente Park | Mary Klinkel | ||
| Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum | Norma Miller | ||
| Arroyo Chico Wash | Shirley Kurc | ||
| Arthur Pack Regional Park | Diana Videtti | ||
| Atturbury Wash | Matt Griffiths | ||
| Avra Valley Wastewater Treatment Plant | John Higgins | ||
| Barrio Kroeger Lane Neighborhood | Kendall Kroesen | ||
| Big Wash/Oro Valley Marketplace Restoration Area | John Schuering | ||
| Borton Environmental Learning Lab/Borton Elementary | The Quail Room | ||
| Canada del Oro Wash (north of Tangerine) | Carla Danforth | ||
|
Case Natural Resources Park | leader needed | |
| Catalina State Park | Bob Bowers | ||
| Columbus Park / Santa Cruz River | Kendall Kroesen | ||
| Davis Monthan Air Force Base | Mike Sotak | ||
| Elvira Elementary School | Kelley Brooks | ||
| Fred Enke Wash / Lincoln Regional Park | Bruce Prior | ||
| Ft. Lowell Park | Mark and Farrish Sharon | ||
| Greasewood Park | Gay Gilbert | ||
| James Kriegh Park | John Scheuring | ||
| Kennedy Park | John Higgins | ||
| Kino Ecosystem Restoration Project / Sam Lena Park | Brett and Peggy Wilmore | ||
| Mason Audubon Center | Craig Marken | ||
| McCormick Park | Mark Stevenson | ||
| Naranja Town Site | John Scheuring | ||
| North Campbell Neighborhood | Michael Smith | ||
| Pima Canyon Estates | Lud Deppisch | ||
| Reid Park | Carla Danforth | ||
| Rio Vista Natural Resources Park | Trica Oshant Hawkins | ||
| Saguaro National Park: Rincon Mountain District | Larry Norris | ||
| Saguaro National Park: Tucson Mountain District | Ethan Beasley | ||
| Sentinel Peak Park ("A" Mountain) | John Higgins | ||
| Sweetwater Wetlands | Andrew Core | ||
|
Tanque Verde Wash | leader needed | |
| Tohono Chul Park | Philip Kline | ||
Tucson Botanical Gardens |
Nora Miller | ||
| Tucson Mountain Park | Susan Birky | ||
| Tumamoc Hill | Bruce Prior | ||
| University of Arizona Campus | Jenise Porter | ||
| West Branch Santa Cruz | Susan Randolph | ||
| Willow Springs (Pinal County) | Bob Bowers | ||
| Woodland Rd. area | Brian Nicholas | ||
| New Routes | |||
|
Mount Lemmon | leader needed | |
|
Canada del Oro (south of Tangerine) | leader needed | |
|
Cortaro Bosque | leader needed | |
|
Other sites of interest | leader needed |