Birding spots · Arizona

Best Birding Spots in Santa Cruz County, Arizona

Patagonia Lake State Park leads Santa Cruz County's birding spots with 284 species reported, best in spring. 97 spots in the county have enough data to rank.

Species counts are birds reported at least three times in that season at that spot, 2016–2025. Busy spots list more species simply because more people look, so compare the checklist counts. Spot names come from public map data and hotspot listings.

Spot	Species	Checklists	Winter	Spring	Summer	Fall
Patagonia Lake State Park	284	6,861	196	252	174	236
Patagonia Lake State Park (Hangmans Canyon)	271	4,727	188	234	145	201
Tubac Creek	246	8,824	164	214	127	184
Peña Blanca Lake	229	1,847	137	178	137	183
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve	220	18,158	137	189	139	188
Patagonia Lake State Park (Ash Canyon)	216	1,590	127	182	71	153
Tumacacori National Historical Park	213	5,914	143	174	122	173
Tubac Creek (Mavis Wash)	197	3,207	89	183	82	120
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (southwest)	197	3,173	127	169	120	141
Aliso Canyon	189	1,888	114	165	97	140
Patagonia Lake State Park (northeast)	188	316	107	162	96	62
Tumacacori National Historical Park (north)	183	1,470	114	138	115	119
Stacey Lake	170	439	103	114	91	109
Madera Canyon	168	24,451	86	135	116	127
Coronado National Forest (Devils Cash Box)	168	2,933	85	148	125	118
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (CCC Canyon)	166	1,452	94	135	83	97
Coronado National Forest (Weiland Harshaw Storage)	160	682	80	133	119	125
Ruby	157	483	72	114	87	95
Tumacacori National Historical Park (Rock Corral Canyon)	152	961	90	129	80	83
Yanks Canyon	149	421	56	116	113	97
Otero	140	343	83	99	67	83
Negro Canyon	137	391	69	96	67	106
School Canyon	133	1,491	90	99	64	60
Coronado National Forest (Mine Shaft Spring)	133	291	65	115	88	80
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (southwest)	132	349	72	109	56	53
Coronado National Forest (Old Glory Canyon)	132	257	59	103	86	58
Warsaw Canyon	131	708	42	112	94	48
Smith Canyon	130	900	50	62	91	68
Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve (Temporal Gulch)	129	239	45	96	69	82
Tumacacori Roadless Area	129	113	50	88	83	50
Coronado National Forest (Rock Tank)	127	253	39	112	95	67
Weiland Harshaw Storage (Gunther Tank)	124	245	37	100	88	57
Coronado National Forest (Rock Corral Spring)	121	108	52	88	53	85
Coronado National Forest (Sylvester Spring)	120	5,268	51	103	95	86
Coronado National Forest (southwest)	118	162	45	67	75	35
Empire-Cienega Area of Critical Environmental Concern (south)	115	753	79	57	33	62
Puerto Spring	113	112	48	79	67	74
Smithsonian Institute Astrophysical Observatory Experimental Research Area	112	2,714	35	100	90	89
Madera Canyon (2)	109	1,136	56	86	62	65
Ruby Lakes	109	144	49	62	64	22
Madera Canyon (south)	108	1,837	48	90	71	64
Tubac Presidio State Historic Park	108	224	55	75	49	47
Smithsonian Institute Astrophysical Observatory Experimental Research Area (Tia Juana Ridge)	108	223	35	71	65	66
Coronado National Forest (south 4)	106	498	46	89	65	49
Weiland Harshaw Storage	105	334	0	58	96	42
Coronado National Forest (Peña Blanca Spring)	101	145	29	61	49	42
Smithsonian Institute Astrophysical Observatory Experimental Research Area (Sylvester Spring)	99	759	40	87	74	61
Coronado National Forest (Madera Canyon)	98	1,167	46	78	61	53
Appleton-Whittell Research Area of Critical Environmental Concern	98	113	24	75	53	18
Coronado National Forest (south 3)	97	562	28	79	60	40