So I'm going to Scottsdale Arizona next month..

[TZ]

Any good birding spots around there. I would LOVE to see a road-runner..

[semillama]

1. Check this map out

http://tinyurl.com/yzv5swa

Shows where Greater Roadrunner has been reported to eBird this year in Maricopa County.

Pima Canyon might be particularly good.

http://www.maricopaaudubon.org/web-content/birding_locations/pima.htm


Good luck, and wish I was birding there too!

[TZ]

2. OKay I haven't had a lot of birding time yet

But so far I've seen oodles of Gambels Quail (new to me). A couple of flickers both red shafted AND yellow...Some little flycatcher/pewee type looking bird. And some type of warbler I think...it was house sparrow size with a yellow head (and I mean YELLOW) with a brown streak? around the eye. Kind of a longish tail too....Any ideas?

[semillama]

3. Townsend's Warbler, maybe?

and keep an eye out for Gilded Flickers too!

Where have you gotten to go so far?

[TZ]

7. I don't know..I think the head was more yellow than that

I got down to South Mountain Park today..but not over to Pima Canyon...Was getting low on gas and it seemed like it wasn't close to where I was....Yesterday I went up into the Fountain Hills area and then over to Tonto National Forest.
I'll tell you what, those Gambel's Quail are all OVER the place here. I'm heard and seen oodles of them!
Today I kinda had not much luck spotting new birds..a couple of flashes of something yellow. And something thrush like that had a brown butt... Oh and I saw a couple of hummingbirds probably ruby throated....

[semillama]

8. Black-chinned Hummingbirds are likely what you had

They look a LOT like Ruby-throats, but Ruby-throats are major rarities out west (although I have one on my Arizona list...).

[GoCubsGo]

5. You sure those yellow-shafted flickers weren't actually Gilded flickers?

They're pretty darned similar, especially if you don't get a good look at their heads. Was the yellow-headed bird a Verdin? They're pretty common around there:

[TZ]

6. They might have been Gilded Flickers

I didn't see any "Moustache". I definitely saw one Red shafted though.
As for the yellow headed one..No that wasn't it. The head was all yellow and it was smaller.
I also saw a really small sparrow like bird with a RED head....

[GoCubsGo]

4. Check out all the golf course ponds...

It's surprising what shows up there. I have seen a variety of ducks and wading birds, including black-necked stilts. Lake Pleasant is a little bit of a drive, but there's good birding there, too.