Welcome to Tommy D's Birding Expeditions

 Hi, I'm Tommy DeBardeleben and I'm an avid birder.  I live in the Phoenix area and I think birding is awesome.  Birding is my favorite thing to do and it's been a long time hobby of mine.  The main purpose of this website is to share some of the great birding areas that I think are epic.  I also have times in which I give private tours.  To see my current availability, see the section "Contact and Tours".

The project that started my website is Birding in Maricopa County.  This feature covers hotspots and areas, as well as what birds can be found at these hotspots and areas.  Birding in Phoenix and it's surrounding area can be found in this guide.  Whether you are new to Maricopa County, visiting Phoenix with limited time, wanting to have new locations to bird at or find certain birds, this online birdfinding guide will help you find what you want!  Birding in Arizona is a popular pursuit among many people, and a lot of Arizona's birding excitement is found in Maricopa County.  I have actively birded in Maricopa County since I seriously got into Arizona birding.  Over the years, I have traveled and explored almost all of Maricopa County's birding locations and wilderness areas for different projects I have worked on.  The diverse county of Maricopa has had more than 450 different bird species found and documented in it's diverse habitats that range from the hottest deserts to pine and fir forests that exceed 7000'.  Folks, the Phoenix area isn't entirely covered in cacti! 

There are several more online birding guides that I have created and posted here on my website.  My latest project and one of my obsessions is the under-birded Gila County.  I've traveled to Gila County a lot in recent years, and I've added it as my latest online birding guide.  Check out Birding in Gila County.

Birding in Greenlee County is another online birding guide I've created on my website.  I made several big trips to this small county in eastern Arizona in 2017 and it prompted me to share what I explored.  It's the most under-birded county in Arizona by a mile, and I was inspired to write about Greenlee County on this website in hopes that it may get birded more.

My original ties to birding came from Arizona's White Mountains in the east-central part of the state.  I've written about this area for an online birding guide too; check out Birding in Arizona's White Mountains.  The White Mountains hold great high elevation birding in the state and hold species like Pine Grosbeak, Dusky Grouse, American Three-toed Woodpecker, American Dipper, Gray Jay, Gray Catbird, Williamson's Sapsucker, Clark's Nutcracker, and more.  This area is one of Arizona's most underbirded, which is what I really like about it.

The Journal section of this website features a link to my active birding blog on Blogspot.com, "Tommy D's Birding Expeditions" as well as reports I have written about my birding experiences throughout my years of birding and traveling.

"Birding is hunting without killing, preying without punishing, and collecting without clogging your home.  Take a field quide into the woods and you're more than a hiker.  Your a detective on a backcountry beat, tracking the latest suspect from Mexico, Antarctica, or even the Bronx.  Spend enough time sloshing through swamps or scaling summits or shuffling through beach sand and you inevitably face a tough question:  Am I a grown up birder or just another kid on a treasure hunt?"  -Mark Obmascik