Coming soon…
The Curly Cam live stream birding station! For now, please enjoy these videos recorded at our Affiliated Birding Sites.
Welcome to “The Roost”
Whether you’re a casual birder or a birding expert, you will be impressed with the variety and abundance of bird species found in Southwestern New Mexico and Southeastern Arizona.
Known for its uniqueness and diversity of flora and fauna, more than half of all birds found in North America (nearly 400 species) are drawn to the region, with its Chiricahua and Peloncillo mountain ranges, either to nest or visit, as they travel along the migratory flyway.
During a short journey up or down the Chiricahuas, which rises from 4,000 to nearly 9,800 feet in elevation, you will encounter five of the six major Life Zones found on the continent. The biogeographical convergence of such distinct desert and mountain biota offers birders the opportunity to encounter rare species seldom seen in other parts of the United States.
Bird in Your Own Backyard on Smugglers’ Trail
Smugglers’ Roost offers residents a comfortable “nest” from which to mount birding expeditions. Here, residents can form lasting relationships with other birders who share the enthusiasm for the hobby.
However, you don’t even have to leave the property for great birding! Smugglers’ Trail, our nearly one mile-long Fitness and Birding Path, will feature several birding stations designed to attract a wide variety of the area’s feathered friends, as well as provide residents an opportunity to gather and share birding knowledge while observing.
Join Our Interactive Birding Community
Choose from four distinct Affiliated Birding Sites
Smugglers’ offers four Affiliated Birding Sites throughout the region, which offer birders an opportunity to bird in a variety of distinct habitats , including one of the premier birding destinations in the United States, Cave Creek Canyon.
Smugglers’ Trail – Onsite Birding Path
Smugglers’ Roost’s Chihuahuan desert habitat is the only area in the US where it is possible to experience the Sierra Madre Mountain range which emanates from northern Mexico and defines the South American / Mexican birding flyway.
This location is saturated twice a year during the Mexican bird north/south migration with an over-abundance of species. Along with a broad list of migrating birds, watch for Burrowing Owls, Prairie Falcons, Short-eared Owls (rare winter), and Lesser and Common Night hawks (summer). White-tailed Kite is also rare.
Habitat: Semidesert grassland, Chihuahuan desert scrub, and agricultural farmland.
Winters can produce Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks; Western Meadowlarks, and Merlin and Prairie Falcon. In milder weather, Bendire’s, Curve-billed and Crissal Thrashers; and Swainson’s Hawks may be spotted. Common and Chihuahuan Ravens are year-round.
Help! Curly’s not much of a Birder yet, and he’s a great shot, but not with a camera! We need more birding photos, not to mention a better photographer! So, come Bird with us at the Roost!
The Rock House – Portal, AZ
The Rock House, located in Portal, AZ at the base of Cave Creek Canyon, a premier US birding destination is a private residence, owned by one of Smugglers’ principals. It encompasses several acres of watered and heavily forested habit.
Habitat: Situated between two desert regions, the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts, this historical location also serves as the gateway to habitat such as: Grassland, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Sierra Madrean Pine-Oak Woodland, Ponderosa Pine Forest, and Fir-Spruce Forestat.
The biodiversity of this region is unrivaled, as is the nearly 400 bird species which frequent this “Mexican Flyway” twice a year.
Apache Elementary School in Apache, AZ is located adjacent to the western slopes of the Peloncilla Mountains. Loy Ann Guzman, a principal of Smugglers’ Roost, is Superintendent and Teacher of this unique and historic one room K-8 school house.
The Western birds are the most visible form of biodiversity, and their success in the Peloncillo region is obvious. At least 318 species are known here, including 15 hummingbirds.
The grassland communities of the Peloncillo region support permanent and wintering populations of 25 species of sparrow.
Photos coming soon…
The Smugglers’ Roost Affiliated Birding Site on State Line Road is featured on the Southwestern NM Birding Trail and offers birders an opportunity to experience the Sonoran desert environment with an approximate elevation of 4,100 feet.
Habitat: Semidesert grassland, desert scrub, and agricultural lands.
White-tailed Kites have nested near Rodeo, and Bendire’s Thrasher is easy to spot along the road in spring and summer. Cactus Wren and often Cassin’s Sparrow are also easy to find here. North of Rodeo on NM 80, Harris’s Hawk is a possibility on tall poles and in dead trees. New Mexico’s only documented Black Vulture was photographed here in 1996.