From Desert Washes to Sierra Forests: The Western Tanager’s Path Through California

In May, I embarked on my annual spring visit to California’s deserts.  This time my husband and I picked Joshua Tree National Park, a place I hadn’t explored in many years. We set out on a 7-mile hike, quickly leaving behind any crowds and we only saw one other person—an intrepid trail runner.   

The landscape was sparsely vegetated and volcanic, with the rocks occasionally punctuated by a small cactus, some of which had beautiful flowers.  The most abundant bird (well, maybe the only bird) was the Common Raven, adapted for desert life.  After about 4 miles, the landscape shifted and we found ourselves hiking down a sandy wash—Joshua trees and desert shrubs replaced the volcanic rocks, and lupine flowered in the wash.  It was dry and looked like it had been for some time.   

However, the quiet solitude gave way to a series of chips and chirps.  We were in a flock of migratory songbirds!  The birds barely stood still, but we spotted Yellow-rumped and Wilson’s Warblers and Western Tanagers.  They were working fast, looking for insects to fuel their migratory journey.  Ash-throated flycatchers, in beautiful pairs, announced themselves and looked likely to breed in the area.   

To my delight, we saw a Gray Flycatcher—a bird I haven’t seen much in California, as it’s more of a Great Basin Sagebrush breeder.  It winters as far south as Mexico.  I had so many questions for it: How was the winter in Arizona or Mexico? Where are you headed next?  Do you have enough food to eat?  I felt sorry for them in the heat—it was a little early for 90-degree days, and some of these birds still had miles to go.   

Being in this desert wash, surrounded by songbirds, underscored the importance to me of these little-known habitats that are critically important during migration.  Imagine flying between rainforests in Central America and your breeding sites in the forests of the Sierra and having to cross large swathes of desert.  These washes and other desert wetland habitats provide necessary rest stops for birds during the journey.   

Seeing all these birds in a remote patch of desert reinforced the importance of protecting the Chuckwalla National Monument, whose desert washes serve the same purpose for migratory songbirds as well as desert dwellers such as Verdin and Cactus Wren.  Protecting desert habitat provides these critical points of connection for migrating birds, habitat for other rarely seen desert wildlife such as Desert Tortoises, places for recreation and solitude, and helps preserve a sacred place for Indigenous peoples who have lived here for millennia. 

As we ended our hike, fatigued by the heat, I thought again about the Western Tanager and knew I’d see it again, while hiking this summer among the conifers in the Sierra.  In the meantime, researchers with Southern Sierra Research Station and Audubon’s Kern River Preserve have been spotting several Western Tanagers. 

Located in California’s Southern Sierra Nevada, the Kern River Preserve protects one of the largest remaining riparian forests in the state, providing essential food and shelter for hundreds of bird species. The preserve’s important role in migration was highlighted just last week when our Working Lands team installed a new Motus station in the Central Valley, with support from Southern Sierra Research Station, Point Blue, and Fresno Audubon. Just a day later, the station detected a Western Tanager that had been tagged less than a week earlier—an exciting confirmation of how birds use and rely on these connected landscapes during migration. 

Birds don’t recognize state lines or borders, which is why collaboration across California and the hemisphere is so vital to their survival. From remote preserves to working lands and desert washes, it all matters. 

Join us in supporting conservation that connects habitats across flyways—get involved, stay informed, and help protect the places birds.