Patton's Center for Hummingbirds

If you are ever in Southeast Arizona in the town of Patagonia you must stop at Patton’s. It is a house close to downtown that was for years and years owned and maintained by a couple named Patton. They passed away a few years back and the family sold the property to Tucson Audubon. It is a fabulous place for bird watching.

Welcome to the Tucson Audubon Patton’s Center for Hummingbirds. This is a sign posted as you enter the parking lot.

There is some amount of parking on the property with additional space out on the street.

This shows the area leaving the car and walking towards the house. It is early May 2021 and the sign asks that you keep your mask on. The Center was closed for much of the time during Covid-19 pandemic. Patagonia is in Santa Cruz County and the county had a very high rate of infection. There are feeders and birding areas and trails to walk along both ahead and to the left in this image.

One of the first birds we noticed after parking and getting out of the car was this group of Lazuli Bunting. The one sitting on the right of the feeder is a female while the two brightly blue colored birds are males of the species. Birds are everywhere around the property.

This is an informative sign that describes the area and provides a small map with a layout. There is also information on the Tucson Audubon Web Site that can be read by CLICKING HERE

There are Javelina often seen around the property. Though some people think Javelina is a type of wild pig, they are actually members of the peccary family, a group of hoofed mammals originating from South America. Javelina are common in much of central and southern Arizona. They are also called stink pigs for a good reason, they really stink.

There is a variety of feeding stations around the property. Here is a Western Tanager feeding on an orange at one of the stations.

As you walk along the path to the backyard you see more feeders and brush piles and more birds.

There is a cover in the backyard with chairs and benches underneath. You have excellent views of the area behind the house and a variety of brush piles and open wooded area for spotting birds.

There is no fee to tour the property, take pictures, and enjoy the birds. There is this “sugar fund” donation box.

It is a good idea to put a few dollars in to help ensure the place stays open, they can feed the birds, and you can continue to enjoy them.

This is a Broad-billed Hummingbird. It is very striking in its coloration. Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards. Not sure if in this picture it is looking at something above or stretching its neck.

This is a female Broad-billed Hummingbird, not nearly as brightly colored as the male.

We had seen the Western Tanager eating on the oranges in an earlier image. There were a lot of oranges at various places around the property. Here we find these two that have been all used up. The birds really like the oranges. Certainly some of the sugar fund money will be used to buy oranges as well.

There are a lot of brush piles scattered about the property. Here is a Pyrrhuloxia using one of the piles.  

In one portion of the backyard along a trail is this pond. It has running water from a pump and provides additional habitat for the birds

While watching one of the hummingbird feeders we heard this insect like sound and realized it was the Broad-tailed hummingbird. Male Broad-tailed Hummingbirds make an insect like, metallic trill with their wings while flying that can be quite loud. Not sure why they would make such a sound but they do.

Violet-crowned Hummingbird. Later in the year there will be 12-13 different species of hummingbirds at Patton’s.

This Black-headed Grosbeak was using the pond for a drink.

Abert’s Towhee, using the brush pile to look for food and gain some protective cover.

This is a female Summer Tanager. The male is bright red but we could not get his picture while we were there, hopefully next time.

Here is a White-breasted Nuthatch walking down the tree looking for insects in the cracks of the tree.

This is a Yellow-breasted Chat. They can be very vocal and have a wide repertoire of calls but this one was quiet. They will head north for the summer.

Once you are through enjoying the birds mosey over the few blocks to Patagonia and have lunch and dessert at one of the several eateries there, they all have great food.

There were a lot of other bird species at Patton's when we were there. The spring migration was passing through. It is a fabulous place and well done by Tucson Audubon.


There is a web cam on one of the feeders and you can watch the action if you wish.

https://tucsonaudubon.org/go-birding/tucson-audubons-paton-center-for-hummingbirds/paton-center-web-cams/


We hope you enjoyed the visit to Patton’s and that you get an opportunity to visit there in the not too distant future. There are lots of birds to watch, it is a truly fascinating place.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments.

All the best – George & Deanna