Because of its great variety of habitats, ranging from luxurious desert
vegetation to deep mountain forests, Saguaro National Monument provides
food and shelter for many species of birds. Some of these reside all
year within a single 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 spring and autumn in their annual
migrations between Latin America and summer nesting grounds in northern
United States or Canada. The following species are those you are most
likely to see.
[Illustration: The Mojave rattlesnake prefers desert, grassland, and
open brushland to densely vegetated areas.]
A common year-round desert resident is the CURVE-BILLED THRASHER,
noticeable, noisy, and about the size of a robin. These energetic
inhabitants of the cactus forests nest in mesquite clumps and cholla
thickets. Their diet—they feed on insects and succulent fruits—makes
them comparatively independent of water. The thrashers are delightful
songsters. The CACTUS WREN, looking somewhat like a small thrasher, is
even noisier. It protects its nest by building in a cactus. 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. Many coveys are found 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, 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 sometimes 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 roadrunner
prefers to trust to its legs and the security of thickets, but will take
to its wings if pursued in the open.
[Illustration: You may mistake the curve-billed thrasher’s call,
“whit-wheet,” for a human whistle of attention.]
Two members of the woodpecker family closely associated with the saguaro
cactus are the GILA WOODPECKER and GILDED FLICKER. Called carpenter
birds because they drill nest holes or pockets in the saguaro stems,
both species are of particular interest because of their limited range
and specialized habitat. Two other desert birds, sufficiently similar to
be confused, are the red, black-faced CARDINAL and the gray-and-red
PYRRHULOXIA, both of which have crests. Look for these species in the
shrubs along washes. Several kinds of doves are found in the desert,
including the common MOURNING DOVE and the WHITE-WINGED DOVE. Mourning
doves are all-year residents, while the large white-wings drift in from
Mexico in May, remaining long enough to raise families and join other
animals in harvesting fruits of the saguaro.
[Illustration: The gilded flicker drills its nest hole in the
saguaro.]
Seen and heard in the desert all year, the canary-voiced HOUSE FINCH
raises its family among cholla and mesquite thickets. The tinkling song
of the ROCK WREN is a familiar sound in the desert in winter. These gray
ground dwellers go farther north or to higher elevations to nest.
The PHAINOPEPLA 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 tree while indulging in flutelike song. A
permanent resident of the monument, subsisting on mistletoe berries and
other vegetable matter in winter, it has a diet of insects, principally
ants, during the rest of the year. Flycatchers are especially abundant
and conspicuous during spring and early summer when the blossoms of
trees, shrubs, and the larger cactuses attract swarms of insects. Among
these birds are SAY’S PHOEBE and ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER. The LESSER
NIGHTHAWK lives on a diet of insects, which it catches while on the
wing. It is especially noticeable from May to September as it skims the
tops of the tallest saguaros in the dusk of evening. The lesser
nighthawk also ranges up to the oak woodlands.
[Illustration: The white-winged dove’s interest in the saguaro is in
the nectar and fruit.]
Predators are an integral part of the bird population, one of the
smallest and most active being the LOGGERHEAD SHRIKE. This
black-and-gray bird gorges itself on beetles and grasshoppers when
insects are abundant, turning to lizards, rodents, and small birds at
other times. It has the unusual habit of impaling its prey on thorns for
future use. The RED-TAILED HAWK is the commonest of the large soaring
hawks, which 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, the red-tailed hawk is found in grasslands, chaparral, and
woodlands as well as in the desert. Because of their nocturnal habits,
owls are not often seen by visitors, but they are abundant in the
monument. In addition to the GREAT HORNED OWL, which like the red-tailed
hawk feeds principally on rodents and builds cumbersome nests in saguaro
branches, the SCREECH OWL and the tiny ELF OWL are numerous in the
cactus community. Screech and elf owls make use of abandoned woodpecker
holes in saguaros, not so much for nesting as for dark and comfortable
hiding places during daylight hours; they emerge after sunset to hunt
insects and small rodents. Best known of the carrion eaters, the TURKEY
VULTURE is rarely seen on the ground, but is a common sight, singly or
in groups, circling high in the sky.
[Illustration: The red-tailed hawk builds its nest in the fork of a
saguaro and by day ranges over the entire monument in search of
prey.]
The oak-pine-juniper woodland has its set of birds too. One of the
noisiest, most quarrelsome, and most mischievous is the MEXICAN JAY, a
permanent resident. In summer, it shares this habitat with the
night-flying poor-will, which closely resembles the nighthawk but lacks
the white wing patches. 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 mountains. Here, too, is found the
strikingly patterned HARLEQUIN QUAIL, which waits until you are almost
upon it before flushing. The _RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEE_ prefers brushy slopes
and canyons, where it trills its monotonous song from the branch of a
skunkbush or scratches noisily and industriously among the fallen leaves
beneath an oak. And anywhere from the oak-pine woodland to the top of
the Rincons, you are likely to startle the large BAND-TAILED PIGEON from
its perch.
The pine and fir 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, which includes insects in its summer diet but
feeds mainly on acorns and other vegetable material in winter. The
MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE is busy among the branches of the large pines and
firs even when snow lies deep on the ground. PIGMY NUTHATCHES—tiny,
constantly twittering insect-eaters—also remain all year.
[Illustration: The great horned owl, a nocturnal counterpart of the
red-tailed hawk, nests in the saguaro and feeds primarily on
rodents.]
[Illustration: Steller’s jay lives year-round in the pine and fir
forests of the higher Rincons.]
In summer, when insects are plentiful, the mountain forests are alive
with birds. The MEXICAN JUNCO, which winters at lower elevations, 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 meadow at Manning Camp. Brightly colored summer visitors such as the
HEPATIC TANAGER and the PAINTED REDSTART search for insects among the
pine boughs or flash in the sunlight as they flutter across open glades
in the forest. The mountaintops, too, have their predators; the COOPER’S
HAWK, which nests in wooded canyons, is large enough to lift a pigeon or
rabbit, but generally preys on rodents and smaller birds. The largest
bird known to inhabit the Rincon Mountains is the TURKEY, which nests
and raises its young among the firs and aspens. It descends in winter to
the oak-pine woodlands, where it feeds on pinyon nuts, acorns, and grass
seeds.