This is an animal superbly designed for flight. Cooper’s Hawks prey on other birds, and many live and hunt in forests, so they must be able to fly with extreme agility. Notice the boney ridge above the eye. This supra-orbital ridge protects the eyeball from twigs and branches as the raptor careens through the trees.Continue reading “Stellar in Flight”
Tag Archives: South Mountain
Mourning Dove
Like pleasing background music, the cooing of doves adds a soft note to spring and summer in the desert. I don’t see Mourning Doves around here in the wintertime, but couples recently began showing up in the back yard, and I’ve seen them in pairs in the desert. Out there they blend so well withContinue reading “Mourning Dove”
Not So Bad: The Butcher Bird
They call Shrike the butcher bird, but that seems a bit unfair. After all, pairs are monogamous, and every spring the male sings to his female and brings her choice tidbits to eat. They search together for a perfect nesting site and work in tandem to gather twigs, rootlets, strips of bark and grasses. Females actually build theContinue reading “Not So Bad: The Butcher Bird”
Winter Flowers Feed Bees
About 1000 different species of bees live in the Sonoran Desert. Most are solitary and nest in underground burrows or the hollow stems of pithy plants. The majority of these bees are herbivores, subsisting on pollen and nectar. Upwards of 80% of native flowering plants in the Sonoran region are pollinated by bees, as areContinue reading “Winter Flowers Feed Bees”
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
In our neighborhood grows a beautiful Cascalote tree. When I walked by on a chilly morning recently I saw hundreds of showy yellow blossoms had unfolded at the ends of the branches, and that the tree was alive with tiny birds. Usually tiny birds around flowers are hummingbirds or Verdins, both of whom eat nectarContinue reading “Ruby-crowned Kinglet”
Wren With A Swagger
A bird with a swagger? Yes, that’s the Cactus Wren. This brash songbird makes no effort to conceal his busy occupations about the desert. Nest building is nearly a full-time job, but plenty of hunting is done as well, and Cactus Wren is always on patrol in his territory, singing from a cactus top or scolding intruders. CactusContinue reading “Wren With A Swagger”
Boo Draws a Glance
This Red-tailed hawk perched on the rocks out back and watched Boo the cat, who was enjoying a supervised breath of fresh air. Boo was oblivious to the predator, intent instead on a wily lizard hiding in the chive patch. What a plump and juicy treat Boo would be! Red-tailed hawks eat mostly rodents, but also squirrels,Continue reading “Boo Draws a Glance”
White-crowned Sparrow
Lately I’ve noticed flocks of these striking birds foraging on the desert floor, and singing in trees. White-crowned Sparrows hop around, kicking at the soil, uncovering seeds to eat. During breeding season in spring and summer, they establish and defend territories, hunting insects, caterpillars, wasps, and beetles, for themselves and for their young. White-crownedContinue reading “White-crowned Sparrow”
LETS ~ GO ~ LOOK ~ OUT 