Numerous and Varied Animals (continued)

A BIRD-WATCHERS' PARADISE

Because of its great variety of bird habitats ranging from luxurious desert vegetation to deep mountain forests, Saguaro National Monument provides favorable food and shelter for many species of birds. Some of these reside the year around within a single life zone, while others move upward in summer, returning to the desert when the mountaintops are covered with snow. Other species pass through the monument in the spring and autumn in their annual migrations from Central America to summer nesting grounds in northern United States or Canada. Space limitations permit a discussion of only a few of the species you are most likely to see.

Common year-round desert residents are the THRASHERS (Toxostoma sp.). Noticeable, noisy, and about as large as a robin, these energetic inhabitants of the Cactus Forest nest in mesquite clumps and cholla thickets, and feed on insects and succulent fruits which make the birds comparatively independent of water. All of the thrashers are delightful songsters. The CACTUS WREN (Heleodytes brunneicapillus couesi) is likely to be confused with the thrashers, although it is somewhat smaller and even more noisy. It also protects its nest by building in cactus bushes. This wren lives largely on a diet of insects but about 17 percent of its food is seeds and fruits. One of the most attractive of the ground birds is the GAMBEL'S QUAIL (Lophortyx gambeli). There are many coveys of them throughout the desert within close range of water. In winter, Gambel's quail feed mainly on seeds, berries, and plant shoots; in summer they augment this diet with ants, grasshoppers, and other insects. The ROADRUNNER (Geococcyx californianus), ungainly clown of the desert, is frequently seen by visitors as it scuttles through the underbrush along the margins of sandy washes. Not particular as to food, it is often seen with the tail of a lizard protruding from its beak, and it is known to eat insects and spiders, snakes, young rodents, small birds, seeds and fruits. Quite capable of flight, the road runner prefers to trust to its legs and the security of thickets of creosotebush and cholla, but will take to its wings if pursued in the open.

Cactus wren nesting in a cholla.

Two members of the woodpecker family which are closely associated with the saguaro cactus are the GILA WOODPECKER (Centurus uropygialis) and the GILDED FLICKER (Colaptes chrysoides). Both species drill nest holes or pockets in the saguaro stems, and both are of particular interest to visitors because of their limited range and specialized habitat. Two other desert birds, both quite rare and sufficiently similar to be easily confused, are the crested CARDINAL (Richmondena cardinalis superbus) and the gray-and-red PYRRHULOXIA (Pyrrhuloxia sinuata). Several species of doves are found in the monument including the tiny GROUND DOVE (Chamaepelis passerina pallescens), the slightly larger INCA DOVE (Scardafella inca), the common MOURNING DOVE (Zenai duramacroura marginella), and the WHITE-WINGED DOVE (Melopelia asiatica mearnsi). In addition, the BAND-TAILED PIGEON (Columba fasciata) is common in the oak-pinyon-pine-fir forests of the Tanque Verde and Rincon Mountains. Whereas the ground dove and the Inca dove are all-year desert dwellers, mourning doves are mainly winter residents. The large white-wings drift in from Mexico in May remaining long enough to raise families and join other animals in harvesting the fruits of the saguaro.

Young white-winged doves in their fragile nest on the tip of a saguaro arm.

Although seen in the desert the year around, the canary-voiced HOUSE FINCH (Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis) apparently is not a permanent resident. Individual birds that winter in the cactus country move farther north to nest, while those that raise families among the cholla and mesquite thickets have come north from their winter homes in Mexico. The tinkling song of the ROCK WREN (Salpinctes obsoletus) is a familiar sound in the desert in winter. These gray ground dwellers go farther north or to higher elevations to nest. Whether those found in the rocky brushlands in the Tanque Verdes and lower canyons of the Rincons in summer are the same individuals that inhabit the Cactus Forest in winter is not known.

The PHAINOPEPLA (Phainopepla nitens) is one of the most noticeable of the desert birds because of its silky crest, glossy black plumage, and habit of perching on the topmost branch of a mesquite or palo verde while indulging in flute-like song. Subsisting on mistletoe berries and other vegetable matter in winter, this permanent resident changes to a diet of insects, principally ants, during the rest of the year. Flycatchers are especially abundant and conspicuous during the spring and early summer when the blossoms of trees, shrubs, and the larger cactuses attract swarms of insects. Among these birds are the SAY'S PHOEBE (Sayornis saya), the VERMILION FLYCATCHER (Pyrocephalus rubinus mexicanus), and the ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER (Myiarchus cinerascens). The TEXAS NIGHTHAWK (Chordeiles acutipennis texensis) lives on a diet of insects which it catches while on the wing. It is especially noticeable from May to October as it skims the tops of the tallest saguaros in the dusk of evening. The Texas nighthawk ranges into the grasslands and chaparral belt of the Tanque Verdes.

Although many species of birds build their nests among the cactus branches, some fall prey to the very spines whose protection they seek.

Predators are an integral part of the bird population, one of the most active being the LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE (WHITE-RUMPED) (Lanius ludovicianus excubitorides). This medium-sized black-and-gray bird gorges itself on beetles and grasshoppers when insects are abundant, turning to lizards, rodents, and small birds at other times. Of the several hawks, the RED-TAILED (Buteo borealis calurus) is probably the commonest of the large soaring hawks that live mainly on rodents and reptiles. It builds its large stick nest in the forks of saguaro arms. Like the shrike and the SPARROW HAWK (Falco sparverius phalaena), the red-tailed hawk is found in the grasslands, chaparral, and woodlands as well as in the desert. Because of their nocturnal habits, owls are probably more abundant in the monument than is generally believed. In addition to the GREAT HORNED OWL (Bubo virginianus pallescens) which, like the red-tailed hawk, feeds principally on rodents and builds cumbersome nests in saguaro branch forks, the PIGMY OWL (Glaucidium gnoma) and the tiny ELF OWL (Micropallas whitneyi) are numerous in the Cactus Forest. Pygmy and elf owls make use of abandoned woodpecker nest pockets in the saguaro arms, not so much for nests as for dark and comfortable hiding places during daylight hours, emerging after sunset to hunt insects and small rodents which are abroad at night. Best known of the carrion eaters, the TURKEY VULTURE (Cathartes aura teter) is rarely seen on the ground, but is a common sight, singly or in groups, circling high in the sky.

One of the noisiest, most quarrelsome, and mischievous birds is the ULTRAMARINE JAY (Aphelocoma ultramarina arizonae). It is a permanent resident of the Upper Sonoran Life Zone where it finds food and shelter among the oaks, pinyons, and junipers of the chaparral and woodland. In summer it shares this habitat with the night-flying POOR WILL (Phalaenoptilus nuttalli) which closely resembles the nighthawk. Shy, secretive, and protectively colored, this bird is rarely seen, but its plaintive call is a familiar twilight sound at the middle elevations of the Tanque Verdes and Rincons. Here, too, is found the rare HARLEQUIN QUAIL (Cyrtonyx montezumae mearnsi) until recently believed to have died out in Saguaro National Monument. The RUFUS-SIDED TOWHEE (Pipilo erythophthalmus) lives in the brushy slopes and canyons of the chaparral. It trills its monotonous song from the branch of a skunkbush or scratches noisily and industriously among the fallen leaves beneath an oak.

This young shrike just swallowed a lizard—all except the tail.

The pine, fir, and aspen forests of the higher Rincons are rich in bird life in summer, but only a few species remain the year around. Among the latter is the STELLER'S JAY (Cyanocitta stelleri neacrolopha) which includes insects in its summer diet but feeds mainly on acorns and other vegetable material in winter. The MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE (Penthestes gambeli), and possibly the MEXICAN CHICKADEE (P. sclaterieidas) are busy among the branches of the large pines and firs even when snow lies deep on the ground. Nuthatches also remain the year around. The most spectacular and largest bird known to inhabit the Rincon Mountains is the native MERRIAM'S TURKEY (Meleagris gallopavo merriami) which nests and raises its young among the firs and aspens. It descends in winter, to the pinyon-juniper woodlands where it feeds on pinyon nuts, acorns, and grass seeds.

During the summer, when insects are plentiful, the mountain forests are alive with so many species of warblers there is not space to discuss them here. The MEXICAN JUNCO (Junco phaeonotus palliatus) that winters in the Upper Sonoran Life Zone, hides its nest in grass clumps among the firs and aspens. Hummingbirds of several species pause on vibrating wings to suck nectar from blossoms in the mountain meadow at Manning Camp. Brightly colored summer visitors such as the HEPATIC TANAGER (Piranga flava hepatica) and the PAINTED REDSTART (Setophaga picta) search for insects among the pine needles or reflect the sunlight as they flutter across open glades in the forest. The mountaintops are by no means devoid of predators; the COOPER'S HAWK (Accipiter cooperi), nesting in wooded canyons, is large enough to lift a grouse or rabbit, but generally preys on small birds and rodents.