Lytle Ranch Perserve

 park, birdwatching area

Birding at the Lytle Ranch Preserve is legendary in Utah birding circles.
The Lytle Ranch encompasses a section of Beaver Dam Wash, and the two names are used interchangeably to designate the same birding destination.
Part of its mystique and appeal is its remote setting in a landscape that seems foreign even by the fantastic standards of Utah.

Although a permanent stream meanders through Beaver Dam Wash, the area as a whole is intensely arid and dominated by Mojave Desert vegetation, particularly mesquite, creosote bush, and Joshua trees.
The wash itself, the focal point of the birding experience, supports mature cottonwood groves with an understory of willows.

For birds, the wash has the important function of a migratory corridor, so a great variety of species pass through the area in spring and fall.
The mix of bird species is quite appealing, too—a blend of species typically associated with Utah along with a large proportion of species more characteristic of Arizona and the Mojave Desert.
It’s unlikely you’ll find Common Black-Hawk, White-winged Dove, Brown-crested Flycatcher, and Black-tailed Gnatcatcher anywhere else in Utah.

Specialty birds: Western Screech-Owl; Gray Flycatcher; Gray Vireo; Green-tailed and Spotted Towhees; Black-chinned Sparrow; Lazuli Bunting.

Other key birds: Black-crowned Night-Heron; Cooper’s Hawk; Common Black-Hawk; Gambel’s Quail; White-winged and Inca Doves; Greater Roadrunner; Lesser and Common Nighthawks; Black-chinned and Costa’s Hummingbird (March to mid-June); Ladder-backed Woodpecker; Black Phoebe; Vermilion, Ash-throated, and Browncrested Flycatchers; Western Kingbird; Loggerhead Shrike; Bell’s Vireo; Verdin; Cactus and Bewick’s Wrens; Black-tailed Gnatcatcher; Crissal and Le Conte’s Thrashers; Cedar Waxwing (winter to spring); Phainopepla; Virginia’s, Lucy’s, Yellow, and Yellow-rumped Warblers; Summer Tanager; Abert’s Towhee; Rufous-crowned (winter), Lark, Lincoln’s, and White-crowned Sparrows; Black-headed Grosbeak; Hooded, Bullock’s, and Scott’s Orioles; Lesser Goldfinch.