Wildlife Seen at the Birky House

(called the No-Petting Zoo because when you visit us you should not try to pet the "dogs", or the "cats", or the "pigs" ... and don't hug the trees!)

List updated Dec. 2, 2013

MAMMALS

  1. Big Brown Bat
  2. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit
  3. Bobcat
  4. Collared Peccary (Javelina)
  5. Coyote
  6. Desert Cottontail
  7. Grey Fox
  8. Harris' Antelope Ground Squirrel
  9. Mexican Long-Tongued Bat
  10. Mule Deer
  11. Pocket Mouse
  12. Rock Squirrel
  13. Round-Tail Ground Squirrel
  14. White-Throated Wood Rat (Pack Rat)

 

REPTILES

  1. Coachwhip Snake (Red Racer)
  2. Common Kingsnake
  3. Common Side-blotched Lizard
  4. Desert Spiny Lizard
  5. Desert Tortoise
  6. Earless Lizard
  7. Gopher Snake (Bull Snake)
  8. Night Snake
  9. Ornate Tree Lizard
  10. Scaled Lizard
  11. Tucson Banded Gecko
  12. Western Blind Snake
  13. Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
  14. Whiptail Lizard (Aspidoscelis sp.)
  15. Zebra-Tailed Lizard

AMPHIBIANS

  1. Couch's Spadefoot Toad
  2. Red-Spotted Toad
  3. Sonoran Desert Toad

 

ARTHROPODS OF NOTE

  1. Bark Scorpion (poisonous)
  2. Black Widow spider (poisonous)
  3. Black Witch moth
  4. Brown (Violin) Spider (poisonous)
  5. Burrowing Wolf Spider (Geolucanus)
  6. Carolina Sphinx Moth
  7. Funnel Spider
  8. Huntsman Spider (Olios)
  9. Palo Verde Bark Beetle
  10. Cactus Longhorn Beetle
  11. Tarantula (just barely poisonous)
  12. Wind Scorpion

 BIRDS

  1. Abert's Towhee
  2. American Goldfinch
  3. American Robin
  4. Anna's Hummingbird
  5. Ash-Throated Flycatcher
  6. Barn Owl
  7. Barn Swallow
  8. Bell's Vireo
  9. Bewick's Wren
  10. Black-Chinned Hummingbird
  11. Black-Headed Grosbeak
  12. Black Phoebe
  13. Black-Tailed Gnatcatcher
  14. Black-throated Gray Warbler
  15. Black-throated Sparrow
  16. Blue-Grey Gnatcatcher
  17. Broad-Billed Hummingbird
  18. Brewer's Sparrow
  19. Bronzed Cowbird
  20. Brown-Crested Flycatcher
  21. Brown-Headed Cowbird
  22. Bullock's Oriole
  23. Burrowing Owl (voice only)
  24. Cactus Wren
  25. Canyon Towhee
  26. Cardinal
  27. Chipping Sparrow
  28. Cliff Swallow
  29. Common Raven
  30. Cooper's Hawk
  31. Cordilleran Flycatcher
  32. Costa's Hummingbird
  33. Curve-Bill Thrasher
  34. Elf Owl
  35. Fox Sparrow
  36. Gamble's Quail
  37. Gila Woodpecker
  38. Gilded Flicker
  39. Golden Eagle
  40. Great Blue Heron
  41. Great Horned Owl
  42. Great-Tailed Grackle
  43. Green-Tailed Towhee
  44. Harrier
  45. Harris's Hawk
  46. Hermit Thrush
  47. Hooded Oriole
  48. House Finch
  49. House Sparrow
  50. House Wren
  51. Inca Dove
  52. Kestrel
  53. Ladder-Backed Woodpecker
  54. Lark Sparrow
  55. Lesser Goldfinch
  56. Lesser Nighthawk
  57. Lincoln's Sparrow
  58. Lucy's Warbler
  59. McGillivray's Warbler
  60. Merlin
  61. Mockingbird
  62. Mourning Dove
  63. Nashville Warbler
  64. Northern Flicker (red-shafted)
  65. Northern Harrier
  66. Northern Saw-whet Owl
  67. Orange-Crowned Warbler
  68. Poorwill
  69. Pyrrhuloxia
  70. Peregrine Falcon
  71. Phainopepla
  72. Pigeon
  73. Pine Sisken
  74. Plumbeous Vireo
  75. Prairie Falcon
  76. Purple Marten
  77. Red-naped Sapsucker
  78. Red-Tail Hawk
  79. Ringed Turtle Dove
  80. Roadrunner
  81. Rock Wren
  82. Rock Pigeon
  83. Ruby-Crowned Kinglet
  84. Rufous Hummingbird
  85. Rufous-Winged Sparrow
  86. Say's Phoebe
  87. Sharp-Shinned Hawk
  88. Spotted Towhee
  89. Starling
  90. Townsend's Warbler
  91. Turkey Vulture
  92. Vaux's Swift
  93. Verdin
  94. Violet-Crowned Hummingbird
  95. Violet-Green Swallow
  96. Warbling Vireo
  97. Western Screech Owl
  98. Western Tanager
  99. Western Wood Peewee
  100. White-Crowned Sparrow
  101. White-Throated Swift
  102. White-Winged Dove
  103. Wilson's Warbler
  104. Yellow-Rumped Warbler
  105. Yellow Warbler
  106. Zone-Tailed Hawk

 

Wile E Coyote looking for the roadrunner (sorry, all our roadrunner pictures are blurred).

 

Desert cottontails, aka coyote chow, drinking at the birdbath.

 

Bob jumping on the wall for a dove ... missed it.

 

Our first bobcat, Bob, sleeping after eating six doves and part of a road-killed deer. In the winter of 2002-3 we had at least six different bobcats in the yard: three solo adults and one adult who brought her nearly-mature kittens on several occasions. All but one were observed lying beneath the wall until a dove lands on top of the wall facing the other direction, whereupon the bobcat leaps up to take the dove from behind. Other great sightings include (1) in December 2004, a female and two nearly-grown cubs play king-of-the-tree for over 30 minutes, taking turns climbing to the highest branches while the other two tred to knock it off, following by napping all day; (2) in February 2005, a male walking along the wall, stopping to spray on it, then calling to a female who was following with interest (we predict more babies later this year).

Bill with a four-foot bullsnake.

 

Babe, pregnant again. Javelinas are new-world distant relatives of true pigs.

 

Mule Deer in the backyard.

Bushy-tailed woodrat in live trap, about to be deported for the crime of nesting in our attic.

  

Tucson banded gecko.         

rattlesnake

Baby Western Diamondback Rattlesnake on the back porch, next to a cement block, looking for the missing woodrat.

 

Cactus Longhorn beetle.

 

Cactus Longhorn beetle on the back of Bill's hand.

 

Black widow.

 

Black witch moth, an occasional visitor from Mexico with a six-inch wingspan.

 

Wind scorpion, not poisonous but reportedly can give an unpleasant bite with their large jaws.

 jackrabbit

Jackrabbit at our birdbaths.

Paloverde Beetle

 

Tarantula

 

Baby tarantula 

Tarantula in burrow

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