Phoenix is a Sonoran Desert city, and the desert is right there in the yards. Gila woodpeckers hammer at the saguaros, greater roadrunners dash across the streets, and desert cottontails and round-tailed ground squirrels work the gravel. Anna’s and Costa’s hummingbirds stay all year. The desert preserves on the edges, from South Mountain to the McDowells, add Gambel’s quail, Harris’s hawks hunting in packs, and the desert spiny lizards that own every rock pile.
Everything below is pulled live from recent research-grade observations near Phoenix. Browse by group, explore the map, and identify what you find with Huck.
90,269
recent observations
30
species listed
18
birds
7
plants
2
insects & arthropods
Naturalists have logged 90,269 research-grade observations across the 30 most-recorded species near Phoenix. The most frequently seen is the saguaro, with 8,853 recorded sightings.
Birds account for the largest share of what gets recorded there (18 of the species listed here), followed by plants (7).