Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum near Tucson is a combination zoo, botanical garden and geology exhibit, with specimens from the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Mexico. In addition to the animal and botanical environments and a cave/geology exhibit, a highlight of the park is a raptor free-flight demonstration that is absolutely breathtaking.

A group of Harris hawks have made the museum home, and through conditioning which started when they were very young birds, they do a close encounter with visitors and the staff. The attraction for the hawks is the food they get when they land on the staff member’s gloved hand. It’s quite amazing to have those big birds fly right over your head during the demonstration. We saw several Harris hawks in the wild along the roads during our travels, but not up close and personal as in the museum demonstration.


These hawks are completely free, but they have made the museum their territory, and let’s face it, handouts from museum staff are easier meals than the mice and other small animals they normally have to hunt for.

At the other extreme of bird life is the museum’s hummingbird enclosure in which visitors mingle with the little hummers. The first one we saw was hanging around outside the exhibit, which lent credence to the sign asking visitors to be careful with the door since the hummingbirds are accomplished escape artists.

The raptor free-flight takes place daily from late October through mid-April. The museum is open year round. Several public and private campgrounds are located near the museum. The closest is the Gilbert Ray Campground which is operated by Pima County.