From Our Place to Yours

Art by Jackie Blurton

Nature Note by Dr. Roland Shook

Javelina or Collared Peccary are truly wild pigs of the New World. Primarily tropical and subtropical, they occur south into South America. One of the two species is thought to have expanded its range north from the humid Mexican jungles and to some degree adapted to the arid Southwest.

Curve-billed Thrasher

Art by Jackie Blurton

Nature Note by Dr. Roland Shook

Thrashers belong to the family Mimidae which includes the other "mimics" such as mockingbirds and catbirds. Most species of thrashers are found primarily in the Southwest. All have curved bills except the Sage Thrasher, but the bill of Bendire's Thrasher is nearly straight. The Curve-billed Thrasher is the most common desert thrasher in the Southwest. This species can be told in the field by its strongly curved bill, mottled breast, and pale orange eye. The juveniles seen in late summer have a straighter bill, yellow eye, and a breast with more pronounced spotting. These young birds are often confused with Bendire's Thrashers.

Art by Jackie Blurton
Nature Note by Dr. Roland Shook

The American Wigeon belongs to the surface feeding or puddle duck group. These are relatively light bodied ducks when compared to the diving ducks. When puddle ducks take off, they can spring into the air, and upon landing, they can come in at a very steep angle and plop down on the water. In contrast to this, diving ducks need to run on the surface of the water to gain enough air speed to generate enough lift to get into the air. When they land, again their air speed is much higher than puddle ducks, so they skid across the water before coming to a rest. Owing to their weight, puddle ducks sit higher in the water when compared to diving ducks. In the field, it is helpful to be able to separate ducks into these two major categories.

The Coati, also called the Coatimundi, White-nosed Coati, or the Ring-tailed Coati is a mammal of the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts of the southwestern United States and south into Mexico. The only other member of this group is the Brown-nosed Coati of South America. Coati appear to be spreading to the north since they have only been known to occur in the United States since 1900.

The Coati is a medium-sized animal with a long, somewhat prehensile tail, and a pig-like snout. The Coati stands about 12 inches at the shoulders and can weigh up to 25 pounds. The males are almost twice as big as the females.

Chickadees and titmice are small, plump birds with rounded wings and soft, fluffy plumage. They are very active and often hang head down from branches like acrobats as they feed. They are confiding and inquisitive. Attracting this species can be accomplished by making pishing noises. Their natural food is about 2/3 insects and 1/3 seeds and berries. Members of this group readily visit feeding stations where they relish suet, sunflower seeds, and peanut butter.

Acorn Woodpeckers were formerly called Ant-eating Woodpeckers owing to the erroneous belief that most of the diet consisted of ants. Its specific epithet, "formicivorus," means "ant eating." This species of woodpecker, however, eats fewer ants than other woodpeckers.

Acorn Woodpeckers are widely known for storing acorns, its principal food item, in the bark of trees, telephone poles, or fence posts. They carefully manage these granaries, and as an acorn dries out and shrinks, they fit the smaller acorn into a new hole of the appropriate size. The production of mature acorns only occurs during late summer and fall. Therefore, these larders are an important source of food throughout the year.

In addition to feeding on acorns, this species also flies out from a perch and catch insects on the wing, a behavior known as flycatching.

Acorn Woodpeckers have a complex social system and are a noisy and gregarious bunch. The most common call is a laughing "wheka wheka wheka" or "RACK-up RACK-up RACK-up". - Sibley.

They are found throughout the West from northern Canada south through Washington, Oregon, and California. Also, an interior population occupies Arizona and New Mexico south into Mexico. In flight, the white wing and rump patches provide a striking pattern.

If you desire to see this species, a visit to Little Walnut Campground often reveals several Acorn Woodpeckers.