Orange and red-headed Western tanagers with brilliant yellow breasts; mountain bluebirds covered from head to tailfeather in sky-blue; and owls camouflaged by dense forest surroundings—these winged wonders living among us are thrilling to spot in the wild.
Birdwatching is for those with both a curiosity about the natural world, as well as a keen ability to observe. And the Wood River Valley is ripe with opportunity to view a wide variety of birds in their natural habitat. As nascent birdwatchers soon discover, there is, as well, a community of people in the valley willing to share their avian knowledge.
Brian Sturges and Gary Stitzinger are two of the most (if not the most) active bird watchers in the region. These two friends are not only deeply ensconced in the greater Sun Valley area birdwatching community but have also traveled from coast to coast (and in many cases abroad) to add to their expansive “Life List” of birds they have seen in the wild.
A public servant most of his life, Stitzinger got his start observing birds during slow moments fighting wildland fires in Montana, Alaska, and in Yellowstone National Park. In the early 1970s, he found his way to Ketchum where he worked for nearly 30 years as a volunteer firefighter while also running the 911 dispatch center and ski patrolling on Bald Mountain.
“When I was working in Yellowstone, I started to try and see the things that were making noises in the trees,” Stitzinger said. “I developed ‘warbler neck,’ as they say, from looking straight up into binoculars into a tree to find out what is making the noise. When I came here, I met Brian. I can blame him on the ‘disease’ of birding. Once you start, you can’t stop.”
Sturges, after graduating from San Diego State University with a biology degree, made his way to Sun Valley around the same time. “Every morning (at school), I would drive by the mouth of the San Diego River in Mission Valley, and there were a bunch of birds. I was frustrated that I was about to graduate with a degree in biology, but I didn’t know the name of any of those birds.” He took an ornithology class his senior year, and the hobby became almost second nature.
During his early days in the Wood River Valley, Sturges helped with the Christmas Bird Count the year Wood River Valley placed second in a competition for the most American Dippers (an aquatic songbird) spotted during a count. After that experience, he was hooked. The following year he took over the reins of the event and became entrenched in the birding community, leading Saturday morning bird counts and hosting classes.
“When you go birding, it is like a big scavenger hunt,” Sturges noted. “People get really serious about bird identification, but all you are doing is bird watching. You can do it on so many levels. It is a connection between you and nature. You go out and you see the habitat; you see trees, flowers, and birds that all have adapted to the habitat, and it makes you one with them.”
Getting Started
For birdwatching neophytes, getting involved is as simple as finding a friend—even better if they are an experienced birdwatcher—and hitting a trail with binoculars in hand and a field guide (either in print or on your smart phone).
“There is a robust birding community,” Sturges offered. “There are opportunities to go; you just have to keep your ears and eyes open.” Sturges recommends joining a Facebook community like the Idaho Birding Group, a great beginner’s group to help identify birds and find birding connections.
Next, download an app to help identify and track your finds. Merlin Bird ID and eBird, both mobile apps by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, are two favorites that allow one to track a Life List digitally. Sturges and Stitzinger, however, still prefer an analog system: simply writing down their finds.
New birdwatchers will need a pair of good binoculars. “I always tell people to buy the best pair you can afford,” Sturges said, “and that may be a $50 pair or a $2,500 pair.”
There are several websites for finding the right binoculars, but his favorite is the binoculars and gear guide on Cornell University’s bird website: All About Birds (allaboutbirds.org).
Where to Go
The Wood River Valley, like many mountain towns in the West, is home to a varied number of crowd-pleasing birds: raptors, hummingbirds, varieties of owls, Trumpeter swans, and more.
Silver Creek Nature Preserve is home to some 150 species of birds in the 900 acres along Silver Creek that The Nature Conservancy manages. Hit the trails and look for Sandhill cranes, ring-necked ducks, long-billed curlews, and belted kingfishers.
Spanning 124 acres, the Draper Wood River Preserve in Hailey offers beautiful trails in a habitat for songbirds, raptors, and sometimes more unexpected species.
About an hour and a half away from Sun Valley sits the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh Wildlife Management Area in Hill City, a favorite day-trip birding excursion. Its high-prairie wetlands are a hotbed for waterfowl and other water-based birds. Make plans for a spring or summer trip to explore the region that’s known as “duck heaven.” Late-May offers the added treat of the vibrant purple Camas Lily blooms.
Birding can be as big of an adventure as a cross-country trip to see the coveted Great Kiskadee in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, or as simple as observing a dark-eyed junco while out on the trail or exploring your own backyard. Look for Hummingbirds coming to a feeder or drinking nectar from flowers at the Sawtooth Botanical Gardens. Set out on your favorite hike and stop to listen for birds nearby—a great way to begin adding sightings to your own Life List.
“If you are paying attention, you can see a lot from feeders from peoples’ houses,” Stitzinger said. “Be aware and make some friends; that usually helps. They will pass the word on about what’s out there and isn’t.”
For Sturges, what makes birding special is the ability to notice changes in the season as birds come and go. “I have lived here for so long; it would really be unusual to see a bird I have never seen before,” he said. “But it thrills me to see them come back.” Sturges’ favorites are the owl species.
Sometimes you get lucky and spot something rare. Stitzinger recalls a friend who saw a Siberian Accentor in the Wood River Valley in 1997. “It showed up on her porch on one of her feeders. She wasn’t so much of a birder then, but that was a bird that put the Wood River Valley on the map as far as being a destination to see a rare bird.
“It is definitely a sport for the curious. I am always thinking, ‘I wonder what is out there? If I went down to Silver Creek, would I see different birds than what I am seeing at my feeder, or if I went down to the Snake River in the wintertime,’” Sturges noted. “It is a wondering of what’s out there and discovery of what is.”
There are jokes about birdwatching becoming a hobby as we age, but really, it might just be a hobby that takes hold when we are willing to slow down and look for the winged creatures living in this stunning mountain landscape. And maybe that kind of wisdom does come with age.
ONLY IN IDAHO
Idaho is a destination for birding beyond the appeal of Mountain West species. Nearby, Twin Falls is home to the Cassia Crossbill, first recognized as a species in 2017. A nonmigratory bird, it stays put in Twin Falls all year, eating lodgepole pinecone seeds and attracting bird watchers from across the globe. “It is found in the South Hills below Twin Falls,” Sturges said, “and evolved in the absence of squirrels.” Look for its large bill and orange-red and brown body, as captured in detail by photographer Craig W. Benkman.