aridland

Stock Tank - A Southwestern Oasis

In the southeast corner of Arizona, the roads are dusty, the mesquites scraggly. But in the middle of it all is a dense grove of trees with lush, green foliage. It’s an oasis of sorts, made possible by what in the Southwest is called a tank – short for stocktank or watering tank. A rickety... read more »

RELATED
Related bird:  Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus)

Birding and Recording at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

May 31st – June 3, 2012What a sanctuary Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is! The U. S. Fish and Wildlife brochure begins by saying, “One of the crown jewels of the National Wildlife Refuge System, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge protects a vast complex of wetlands in Oregon’s high desert. The... read more »

RELATED
Topics & Themes:  birdwatching, recording

Visiting a Sage-Grouse Lek

It was March, and some time before dawn, I was driving a van full of birders down a gravel backroad of Southeastern Oregon. The dirt track slid under us disconcertingly, like a thin layer of wet snow. When rain falls heavily on ground only half prepared for absorption, a sickly alluvium forms. We... read more »

RELATED
Topics & Themes:  birdwatching, breeding display, plumage, sound
Related birds:  Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus)

Walk Down an Arroyo

Arroyo means "stream" in Spanish. With mesquite, yucca, and cactus along their edges, arroyos in the Southwest fill with water only a few times a year, mostly during the heavy rains of late summer. There's a remarkable diversity of wildlife here, including this Pyrrhuloxia. Birds here are most... read more »

RELATED
Related bird:  Pyrrhuloxia (Cardinalis sinuatus)

Lark Sparrow

The Lark Sparrow is large, gorgeous, and unmistakable. Because of its beauty, a Lark Sparrow was chosen for the cover of Sparrows and Buntings: A Guide to the Sparrows and Buntings of North America and the World. Lark Sparrows nest throughout the West and Midwest, in grassy habitats with... read more »

Sage Thrasher and Sagebrush

The glorious song of the male Sage Thrasher rings out every spring from tracts of sagebrush throughout the West. Sagebrush was once widespread in the Great Basin region, and so were the thrashers. But huge areas of sagebrush were turned into alfalfa and potato farms, and the songs of the thrasher... read more »

RELATED
Related bird:  Sage Thrasher (Oreoscoptes montanus)

Making a Home among the Saguaros

In the arid Arizona desert, where cacti thrive but trees are scarce, the Gila Woodpecker and this Gilded Flicker carve out nest cavities in living saguaros. Tall, old saguaros may be pocked with twenty or more nest holes, bearing witness to decades of woodpecker families. The woodpeckers excavate... read more »

RELATED
Topics & Themes:  nesting

Burrowing Owl

The Burrowing Owl is most active during the day. It migrates south for the winter and returns each spring to an ever more uncertain fate. The owl is in serious decline, due to intensive agriculture, urban sprawl, destruction of ground squirrel colonies, and elimination of sage habitats. Support... read more »

RELATED
Related bird:  Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

Horned Lark

A high-pitched, tinkling birdsong rings across the open, grassy expanse of a field. The song comes from above, as a male Horned Lark hovers on fluttering wings, circling a hundred feet above the ground. Although a locally common nester in some open habitats of the West, the population in general... read more »

RELATED
Related bird:  Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris)

Roadrunner

The Greater Roadrunner is a common species in the desert and brush country of the Southwest, but its full range reaches from California to western Louisiana. Its soft cooing voice hints at its connections to another bird: scientists group roadrunners with the cuckoos. Where to see a roadrunner?... read more »

RELATED
Related bird:  Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus)

Pages