The 34th Southwest Wings Summer Birding and Nature Festival will be based at The Mall at Sierra Vista, 2200 El Mercado Loop, Sierra Vista from July - August 2025. This family friendly event is our main one with expertly guided field trips, pre-festival Jamboree, free programs, including some new ones just for kids, exhibitors, vendors, live animals and Keynote Buffet Dinner.

A non-refundable registration fee ($25.00) is required if you want to join field trips and attend the welcome Jamboree. The small-group guided field trips will be mainly in Group Vans but there will also be several Car Caravan style, in participants' own vehicles, to nearby easily-accessible locations. Each trip is led by an expert guide and this year we welcome two special guest guides, Greg Homel and Rick Wright.

Schedule of Events:

7:00-9:00 AM
Eric Moore: Focus on Optics - Bird Walk Sponsored by Swarovski Optik

Eric is the owner of The Lookout (formerly Jay's Bird Barn) and will lead a guided bird walk. This bird walk will focus (no pun intended) on the basics of optical equipment designed to enhance a bird watcher’s experience in the field. Loaner pairs of both Vortex and Swarovski binoculars and spotting scopes will be available for participants to use at no charge. The bird walk will include a demonstration and instruction on digi-scoping - taking digital pictures using the latest spotting scope technology. 

Meeting place: Parking Lot at Garden Canyon Linear Park See Map

10:30-11:45 AM
Stephen Vaughn: Exploring Arizona’s Pygmy-Owls

Come join us for an engaging and enlightening program that takes a closer look at the captivating world of Arizona's Pygmy-Owls. Arizona is fortunate to host two distinct species - the Northern Pygmy-Owl and the Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl. This program is a deep dive into the lives of these fascinating birds, shedding light on their biology, ecology, and conservation status, with a special emphasis on how they adapt to the unique Arizona desert environment. What sets this program apart is the invaluable firsthand observations of Steve Vaughan, a seasoned owl expert with decades of experience. For the past seven years, Steve has dedicated his efforts to studying owls, particularly in southern Arizona. This means you'll get a firsthand account from someone with an intimate knowledge of these remarkable creatures, going beyond what's readily available in published materials.

12:00-1:15 PM
Rick Wright: Invaders: Irruptive Birds and Their Stories 

Many birds travel regularly between one place and another, migrating from site to predictable site, season by season. Others are less reliable in their movements; crossbills, nutcrackers, waxwings, and chickadees can appear at virtually any time of the year virtually anywhere, staging massive incursions into an area in one season and utterly absent the next. How have humans sought to explain these irregular invasions? Join Rick Wright to examine the sometimes startling and often humorous interpretations put forth over the ages.

1:30-2:45 PM
Glenn Minuth: Eco Surprises:  A Few Unexpected Topics Notable in Nature 

Yes, a surprise: You won’t know until you arrive as to what will be presented! What’s going around you today and the world you live in?  This program will have multiple topics of interest to a general audience.  We will look at a few noteworthy matters of contemporary significance to assist you in understanding ecosystems.

3:00-4:15 PM
Katie Matthiesen: Monitoring Arizona’s Avifauna to Advance Conservation and Volunteer Opportunities

Arizona's birdlife is particularly diverse with more than 550 native bird species documented in the state. About 230 of these are migratory species that regularly spend part of their annual life cycle (breeding, migrating or wintering) within our borders. As part of our Wildlife Conservation Strategy, the Arizona Game and Fish Department has identified 157 bird species as Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Katie will describe how the Department works to address data needs to understand the magnitude of threats on bird populations and ways to mitigate those threats. Through our AZ Coordinated Bird Monitoring Program, we work with partners and volunteers to implement projects to determine species status, distribution and long-term population trends for breeding and wintering birds.  Some of these projects are part of long-term national efforts while others are statewide periodic surveys, not to mention we conduct species-specific surveys as well as coordinating The Colonial Nesting Waterbird Survey.

4:00-5:30 PM
Rich Bailowitz: Another Glimpse at the Dragonflies of Southeast Arizona

This presentation will cover characteristics of members of the order ODONATA, which comprises both damselflies and dragonflies, what we see and what we don't. More than 100 species are known from Cochise County where our Festival is located, and many are featured in this discussion.