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Birding Home | Access Updates | RBA | Dastardly Duos | Know Your Habitat | AZ/NM Listserv | Tucson Area |
Tucson Audubon Society
Know Your Habitat
by Larry
Liese
See the Know Your
Habitat home page
Articles in this series first appeared
in the Vermilion Flycatcher, newsletter of the Tucson Audubon
Society. To receive the newsletter, join the Friends
of Tucson Audubon.
Habitat 3: Desertscrub
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When first moving to Tucson in 1987, I had thought of the desert as consisting of sand dunes and desolation. Upon reaching here and exploring it, I was amazed at how so much life abounded here, and how easy it was to see. Yes, life is harsh here for the desert inhabitants, but the varied adaptations allow a plethora of plants and animals to do quite well in their desert home.
Arizona upland is one name given to the subdivision of Sonoran desertscrub that most people think of when talking about ‘the desert’ in southeast Arizona. The plants that best characterize this vegetation community are foothill palo verde and saguaro. Other plants common here are triangle-leaf bursage, various cholla cacti, ironwood trees (away from areas prone to winter frosts), ocotillo, creosote, cat-claw acacia and a host of other desert plants. Though you won’t pass through much of this habitat driving up to Madera Canyon from Green Valley, it is an important vegetation community of our area and worth talking about.
What birds breed here? Let’s start with a look at saguaros and the cavities poked in them by woodpeckers. I’ve heard that about forty different bird species have been known to nest in these convenient holes. Gila Woodpeckers and Gilded Flickers are responsible for making them. Interestingly, the Gila Woodpeckers can make do in the space between the saguaro’s skin and its wooden ribs, which lie a few inches inward. The larger flickers will often make their holes near the tip of the cactus, being able to poke through the smaller ribs there and forming a larger cavity in the column interior. Some of the birds I’ve seen using saguaro cavities are Elf Owl, Brown-crested Flycatcher, American Kestrel—and even an enterprising Mourning Dove using an odd shaped hole!
Moving on to cholla cactus, who could miss those all-grass Cactus Wren nests? Partners in crime as well here are Curve-billed Thrashers, though their nests are made using small sticks. Chollas provide protection from some predators—snakes for example, and other birds such as Black-tailed Gnatcatchers use them as well. Other breeding birds in Arizona upland include Gambel’s Quail, Greater Roadrunner, Northern Cardinal and Pyrrhuloxia, just to name a few.
Migrating and wintering birds are common also, finding food in various shrubs, grasses and trees. Some common plants that birds rely on are desert hackberry, four-winged saltbush, and pallid wolfberry, as well as berries from mistletoe growing in infected trees. Don’t cut that mistletoe out of the trees in your backyard, though! Many birds use it as a safe place for roosting or nesting, as well as eating the berries.
Arizona upland is one of the most beautiful vegetation communities to visit. When you’re next out birding, take a look at the variety of plants and their many adaptations to surviving both winter temperatures and desert heat. And look for all the birds there, too!
Up next will be mesquite grasslands, with an extensive stretch encountered between Continental and the mouth of Madera Canyon. Many birds choose this area to make their homes. See you next issue!
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This page was updated on 02/21/06