Boyce Thompson Arboretum

Tips for Birding

Boyce-Thompson Arboretum, “BTA” to state birders, showcases a collection of 3,200 plants from deserts around the world, including Sonoran Desert vegetation native to central Arizona. Combine this greenery with the riparian areas along Queen Creek, a small man-made lake, flowers in the Hummingbird-Butterfly Garden, and fruiting trees in the Herb Garden, and you have a wide diversity of habitats for birds.

Although the arboretum has a long-standing and well-deserved reputation as the best migrant and vagrant trap in central Arizona, winter may well be the best time to visit: Seven species of wrens are possible (Winter Wren is the prize); large, mixed flocks of sparrows are guaranteed (can you find the White-throated and Fox Sparrows among all the White-crowneds?); and each winter brings invasions from somewhere – Arizona’s mountains (Clark’s Nutcracker), the Pacific Northwest (Varied Thrush), or the East (Northern Parula).

In the spring, hummingbirds are everywhere, including Broad-billed, a recent addition, and for the past year BTA has hosted a spectacular, second-ever record Broad-billed x Violet-crowned hybrid. 

Birds of Interest

More than 250 species. Residents: Cooper’s Hawk, Gambel’s Quail, Gilded Flicker, Black Phoebe, Canyon Wren, Curved-billed Thrasher, Verdin, and Northern Cardinal. Western warblers in spring and fall migration, plus a few eastern surprises. Spring breeders: Anna’s and Costa’s Hummingbirds. Summer: Bell’s Vireo, Black-throated Sparrow, Hooded Oriole, and Summer Tanager. Winter: Williamson’s Sapsucker, Steller’s Jay, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Bluebird, Rufous-backed Robin, Black-chinned, Fox, and White-throated Sparrows, and Lawrence’s Goldfinch.

About this Location

Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park is located in beautiful and scenic Queen Creek Canyon, three miles west of Superior. Natural resource developer and philanthropist William Boyce Thompson established the Southwestern Arboretum in the mid-1920s. The inspiration to create an arid region arboretum sprang from a lifetime of fervent interest in things botanical, horticultural, and natural. It was specifically inspired by Thompson’s visit to Russia during the terrible famine years just after the First World War. Thompson, who was a Colonel in the Red Cross, came to realize how profoundly dependent human beings are on plants. It was Thompson’s fervent desire to do something to enhance man’s symbiotic relationship with members of the plant kingdom. A man of broad vision typical of the expansive “can-do” times, Thompson along with the Arboretum’s first Director, Franklin Crider, fashioned a mission for the Arboretum that was vast and global in scope with economic utility and aesthetic appeal being of primary importance in accessioning material to the collection.

The Arboretum was the first purely botanical institution in this desert State and was founded to promote understanding, through scientific research and public education, of plant-people relationships in the arid and semi-arid parts of the American Southwest and the world. To further goals held in common, Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum entered into a bilateral management agreement with the University of Arizona in the mid-1960s. This agreement was expanded to include Arizona State Parks in 1976, in recognition of the great recreational, educational, and historical significance of the Arboretum to the people of Arizona.

“The mission of Boyce Thompson Arboretum is to inspire appreciation and stewardship of desert plants, wildlife, and ecosystems through education, research, and conservation.”

An Arboretum is a botanical garden that focuses on trees and other woody plants. Although Colonel William Boyce Thompson’s original intent was to plant trees (hence the name, Arboretum), he soon realized that all types of plants from deserts around the world should be included, studied, conserved, and made available to the public.

Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum was founded on April 1, 1924, incorporated as Arizona’s first nonprofit research institution on October 5, 1927, and officially dedicated and opened to the public April 6, 1929.

Content from Jim Burns, BirdWatching Boyce Thompson Arboretum and Boyce Thompson Arboretum State Park webpage