Birding in Greenlee County

By Tommy J. DeBardeleben

Despite the fact that it is a birder's paradise, Greenlee County is rarely birded.  There is a lot of exploring to do in this small, mostly "wilderness" Arizona County.

Southeastern Arizona is one that is famous among birders.  Most of southeastern Arizona and southeastern Arizona counties are covered on a regular basis.  Those counties include the famous Pima, Santa Cruz, and Cochise Counties.  Graham County is another, but it isn't birded as often as the others.  And then there's that other southeastern Arizona county, called Greenlee County.  Greenlee is north of Cochise County, and is in the northeastern part of southeastern Arizona.  One may feel like Greenlee is more northern than it actually is, but looking at an overview map of Arizona proves otherwise.  Greenlee County has a spectacular array of habitats that range from 3500' to over 9300'.  It's lowest habitat in Chihauhuan desert scrub at the southern part of the county is topped out by coniferous and aspen forest in the northern part of the county.  A variety of species seen in southern Greenlee County include ones that are typical of the desert southwest.  Some that are considered as southeastern Arizona "specialties" have been discovered.  Up in the northern part of Greenlee, the County gets into the southern part of the Colorado Plateau and the species that are associated with that habitat may be found.  All of this diversity comes from this small Greenlee County, which is Arizona's second smallest county by size, and it is Arizona's least populated county for human population.  Greenlee County is by far Arizona's most under-birded county.  Although it rarely gets good coverage throughout the year, Greenlee County has much to reward birders with with the more they explore it.

The purpose of this guide, Birding in Greenlee County, is to simply give birders a tool or reference to use when exploring the area. 

Birding in Greenlee County menu:

All About Greenlee County

How To Use This Guide

Greenlee County Birding Areas

Birds of Greenlee County