APPENDIX A: Plant and Animal Identification Cards

Photo Credit: Ginger Butcher

Name: Saguaro (sah-WAH-row) Cactus Carnegiea gigantea The Saguaro cactus provides nesting locations for many birds and other animals. Pollinated by Lesser Long-nosed bats, the saguaro produces large fruits which are essential sources of food for many desert animals and insects.

Photo Credit: Paul and Shirley Berquist

Name: Long-nosed snake Rhinocheilus lecontei Lives: Desert scrub and grasslands. Eats: Lizards, rodents, small snakes, and eggs.

Name: Cactus Wren Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus Lives: Desert scrub - arid hillsides with clumps of yucca or mesquite. Eats: Insects and some seeds and fruit.

Photo Credit: Ginger Butcher

Name: Paloverde Tree Cercidium microphyllum The Paloverde tree is named after the spanish word meaning "green stick." The tree produces dense foliage in early spring, which is followed by many yellow blossoms.

Name: Arizona Blister Beetle Lytta magister Lives: Deserts. Eats: Plant tissue from desert shrubs.

Photo Credit: Paul and Shirley Berquist

Name: Gambel's Quail Laphortyx gambelii Lives: Desert scrub - mesquite clumps and cholla thickets. Eats: Seeds, berries, plant shoots, ants, grasshoppers, and other insects.

Photo Credit: Paul and Shirley Berquist

Name: Ringtail Cat Bassariscus astutus Lives: Rocky areas, canyons, talus habitats. Eats: Grasshoppers, crickets, spiders, centipedes, scorpions, snakes, lizards, toads, frogs, small birds, rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits, persimmons, juniper berries, and hackberries.

Wispy creosotebush and pointy Yucca leaves. Photo Credit: Chris Butcher

Name: Creosotebush Larrea tridentata Notes: This bush produces new wax-coated leaves as early as January. The leaves are followed by blooming of small yellow flowers and cottony seed balls.

Name: Elf Owl Micrathene whitneyi Lives: Desert scrub - they nest in the arms of the saguaro cactus. Eats: Large insects.

Photo Credit: Chris Butcher

Name: Prickly Pear Optuntina engelmannii Notes: Large flowers appear in late spring. Then large, juicy, reddish fruits grow. These fruits are edible and some of the most delicious of all cactus fruit. Rodents often carry off loose Prickly Pear pads to "pad" their nests.

Name: Carpenter Bee Xylocopa californica Lives: Burrows into woody plant stems. Eats: Nectar from ocotillo and mesquite.

Name: Arid Lands Honey Ants Myrmecocystus Lives: Arid plains and deserts. Eats: Honey dew from sucking bugs, nectar from flowers, plant juices.

Name:Coyote canis latranus Lives: Open plains. Eats: Rabbits, mice, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, birds, frogs, toads, snake, insects, fruit.

Photo Credit: Paul and Shirley Berquist

Name: Roadrunner Geococcyx californianus Lives: Desert scrub. Eats: Insects, spiders, lizards snakes, young rodents, small birds, seeds and fruit.

Name: Rock Squirrel Spermophilus variegatus Lives: Rocky areas, canyons and talus habitat Eats: Fruits of Juniper and Mesquite. Seeds of mesquite, cacti, agaves, and other plants.

Photo Credit: Paul and Shirley Berquist

Name: Harris' Hawk Parabuteo unicinctus Lives: Desert scrub - Nest in the arms of the Saguaro Cactus. Eats: Rodents and reptitles.

Photo Credit: Paul and Shirley Berquist

Name: Gila (HEE-la) Woodpecker Melanerpes uropygialis Lives: Desert scrub, they nest in the Saguaro Cactus. Eats: Insects, ants, fruit, and some small lizards.