Wilcox AZ, A great slate of tours and activities are sure to delight at the 31 st annual Wings Over Wilcox (WOW)
Birding & Nature Festival. Mark your calendars and plan to attend on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend of
January 16-19, 2025.
Online tour registration is now open and closes December 31, but any remaining tour spaces can be purchased in person
during the festival. Tours begin on Thursday afternoon followed by a welcome reception with music and hors d’oeuvres
from 5:50 to 7:30 p.m. at the Wilcox Community Center, the hub of all festival activities.
Popular tours such as Southwest Winter Specialties, Hawk Stalks, and Whitewater Draw Sandhill Cranes are among 30
guided tours that often sell out fast. For those with diverse interests, WOW offers tours featuring history, geology,
ranching and even wine making and tasting.
A new WOW website at http://www.wingsoverwillcox.com with tour registration links provides information for a full slate of
seminars, Nature Expo activities, and the Saturday-night banquet and silent auction at the Elks Lodge.
A special offering this year is a Friday night dinner with acclaimed biologist and author John Marzluff, Saturday’s
keynote speaker. This will be an opportunity to relax, enjoy conversation, a locally sourced gourmet meal, and locally produced alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage. Seating is limited to 12 and proceeds will help keep the festival growing. Marzluff will sign his books for sale or guests can bring your own for him. On Saturday, Marzluff will present Gifts of the Corvids, a unique view of crows, ravens and jays, collectively known as Corvids. Marzluff’s research and books have shown that “the ongoing connection between humans and our ravens and
crows—a cultural co-evolution—has shaped both our species and theirs for millions of years. And the characteristics of
Corvids that allow this symbiotic relationship are language, delinquency, frolic, passion, wrath, risk-taking, and
awareness—seven traits that humans find strangely familiar.”
The WOW 2025 showcase design, a Chihuahuan Raven by award-winning artist and educator Linda M. Feltner, will be
featured on WOW t-shirts and sweatshirts. It combines her creativity of artistic design with strict standards of scientific
accuracy. The bird is one of southeastern Arizona’s local specialties and ties perfectly into Marzluff’s presentation. To
ensure that you can get your size and color choice, order online in advance and pick up at the festival.
The Nature Expo will be in full swing on Friday and Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. WOW’s longtime Associate
Sponsor, the Arizona Game and Fish Department, will bring their live raptors and other rehabilitated wildlife on the
stage, joined by Liberty Wildlife. Entry is free so bring the whole family.
Regional artists will sell photos, painting, jewelry, and nature-inspired gifts. Regular exhibitors like Tucson Audubon will
be selling books, birding gear and clothing. Huachuca Area Herpetological Association and Arizona Raptor Center will
bring their live animals. Displays by the National Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of
Land Management are always educational and informative.
For questions, call Jeri Higgins, WOW Events Registration, at 928-274-4808 or email info@willcoxnature.org.
Media requests for photos can be directed to Diane Drobka at sunny1az@yahoo.com.