A small woodpecker of arid scrublands and riparian forests, it rarely enters suburban areas. It eats insects pecked from wood or gleaned from the bark as well as fruits. Females feed higher in the trees and do more gleaning from the bark than the males. The nest cavity is usually in a dead limb or snag.
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A common bird of moist open areas, beaches, fields, lawns, and golf courses, the Killdeer gets its name from its call. It is easily identified by its start and stop running behavior. The nest is usually a shallow depression in sand or gravel on an open rise where danger can be seen approaching. Killdeer parents perform a startling \broken wing\ act when a predator is near the nest. The bird convincingly drags a wing and acts like it is injured, all the while tricking the hungry predator away from the eggs or young.
This small ground dove is common in suburbs and vegetated city centers of the southwest. It also occurs in open woodlands and shrubby riparian areas where it roosts in trees. The nest is an unlined stick nest built in low to mid-level shrubbery. Seeds are the main food, and it comes readily to back yard feeders. Evidently the Inca Dove has moved north into much of the southwestern United States only in the last 100 years.
A small, drab species that resembles a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, this vireo is made most evident by its monotonous song. It occupies undergrowth and mid levels of pine-oak and open coniferous woodlands. It regularly joins mixed species foraging flocks of chickadees, titmice, kinglets and warblers and eats mainly insects with a smattering of fruits.
This beautiful bird is a harbinger of Spring in the Southwest. It feeds on nectar, fruit and insects in the wild, and it is thus easily attracted to humming bird feeders and orange halves placed out for it, especially in March and April when it first returns from its wintering grounds in Mexico. The long, hanging nest is woven from palm fibers and grass and often suspended in the crown of a palm tree. The Hooded Oriole will maintain its population in suburbs, but only if parasitizing cowbirds do not become too common.
Occurring in a wide range of forested habitats, pairs stay together all year round. The nest cavity is in either a broad-leafed or coniferous tree. Food is largely insects, but in the winter many seeds and nuts are also eaten.
Found along the edge of small streams, lakes, marshes and ponds, this small kingfisher sits on a perch low over the water scanning the surface intently for fish. It dives shallowly into the water to catch its prey. More frequently, however, you are likely to see nothing but a streaking form flying low and quickly along the water\s surface as it moves from one fishing perch to the next. Its nest is a tunnel deep into the side of a sandy bank near the water.'
This famous cartoon character is even more intriguing in life. It lives on the desert floor, agricultural fields and open pine forests. Occasionally it will sit in the top of a bush to sing its courtship song. On cold desert mornings, the Roadrunner warms itself up by raising its back feathers, exposing the black skin under them, and absorbing the sun\'s energy efficiently. Its foot print in the dust is distinctive with two toes forward and two back to form an \X.\ This cuckoo relative eats insects, lizards, baby quail, mice, snakes and occasionally fruits.
A mountain dwelling species, the Greater Pewee prefers coniferous forest and pine-oak woodlands. Here it sits on exposed branches at mid to high levels in the trees and constantly moves its head around searching for flying insects. When one flies by, the flycatcher sallies out, often long distances, to snatch the morsel from the air and then returns to the same or neighboring branch to wait for the next victim. Its cup nest is positioned high on a horizontal branch and consists of hair, fur and feathers.\r\n
A nondescript bird, the Gary Vireo is best identified by its song and its breeding habitat, mixed chaparral bushes and scattered juniper trees in foothill mountains. It feeds on insects, and the cup-shaped nest is suspended in the fork of a small branch. Brown-headed Cowbirds frequently lay an egg in this vireo\s nest.'