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Hassayampa River Preserve
The Hassayampa River Preserve is a 770-acre riparian nature reserve owned by The Nature Conservancy in the US state of Arizona, near Wickenburg in Maricopa County. The Hassayampa River has mostly subterranean flows for most of its length, the stretch contained within the preserve has year-round flowing water. History The first use of the land after the arrival of European settlers was as a stagecoach stop in the 1860s. In the latter part of the 19th century it served as a farm and cattle ranch, Brill's Ranch, run by Frederick Brill. Brill provided farm products, beef, fruit, and pond-raised carp to local settlers and miners, including those at the nearby Vulture mine. In 1913 the property was reopened as one of the first guest ranches in Arizona. Named the Garden of Allah due to the location's resemblance to the locale in the then-popular romantic novel of the same name. Its visitors were offered a true experience of a Western ranch. During this time, the palm trees were haule ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hassayampa, Arizona
Hassayampa is a populated place situated on both banks of the Hassayampa River in western Maricopa County, Arizona. It is about four miles west of Palo Verde, Arizona, and slightly east of Dixie, Arizona, and Arlington, Arizona. It is known for the Hassayampa Bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the Hassayampa River Preserve. Features In 1961, Maricopa County began operating a landfill in Hassayampa, covering 47 acres on the west side of the Hassayampa River. For an 18-month period from April 20, 1979, to October 28, 1980, the site was used to dispose of hazardous waste. As a result, the 10 acre portion of the landfill was classified as a Superfund site in 1987. Site cleanup and monitoring is ongoing, and is funded by the Hassayampa Steering Committee, which consists of 12 of the major parties responsible for disposing of the hazardous waste at the site (as well as the owner of the site during the disposal time): Maricopa County (owner), Bull, DEC, H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paloverde
''Parkinsonia'' , also ''Cercidium'' , is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi-desert regions of Africa and the Americas. The name of the genus honors English apothecary and botanist John Parkinson (1567–1650). They are large shrubs or small trees growing to tall, dry season deciduous, with sparse, open, thorny crowns and green bark. The leaves are pinnate, sometimes bipinnate, with numerous small leaflets; they are only borne for a relatively short time after rains, with much of the photosynthesis carried out by the green twigs and branches. The flowers are symmetrical or nearly so, with five yellow or white petals. The fruit is a pod containing several seeds. Most American species are known by the common name of palo verde or paloverde, from the Spanish words meaning "green pole" or "green stick". This name is derived from its characteristic green trunk. The palo verde (not species-specific) is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
The black-tailed gnatcatcher (''Polioptila melanura'') is a small, insectivorous bird which ranges throughout the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is nonmigratory and found in arid desert areas year-round. Taxonomy The black-tailed gnatcatcher was described by American ornithologist George Newbold Lawrence in 1857. Meaning 'black-tailed', its specific name is derived from the Ancient Greek ''melano-'' 'black' and ''oura'' 'tail'. Description The black-tailed gnatcatcher reaches about 4.5 to 5 inches in length, much of it taken up by a long black tail lined with white outer feathers. The body is blue-grey, with white underparts, and while it is similar to the blue-grey gnatcatcher, the two birds are differentiated by the amount of black in the tail feathers. The male has a black cap during the summer that extends to the eyes. Females and winter males, lacking the black cap, are difficult to distinguish from the bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Phoebe
The black phoebe (''Sayornis nigricans'') is a passerine bird in the tyrant-flycatcher family. It breeds from southwest Oregon and California south through Central and South America. It occurs year-round throughout most of its range and migrates less than the other birds in its genus, though its northern populations are partially migratory. Six subspecies are commonly recognized, although two are occasionally combined as a separate species, the white-winged phoebe. The black phoebe has predominantly black plumage, with a white belly and undertail coverts. The sexes are identical in color, and juveniles have brown feather tips and brown wing-bars. Its song is a repeated ''tee-hee, tee ho''. It lives in a variety of habitats but is always near water. It is mainly insectivorous and waits on a perch before sallying out and catching its prey in the air. It makes an open cup nest which is placed under a cliff or a bridge and cemented in its place with mud. Description The black p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black-chinned Hummingbird
The black-chinned hummingbird (''Archilochus alexandri'') is a small hummingbird occupying a broad range of habitats. It is bird migration, migratory, spending winter as far south as Mexico. Taxonomy A Hybrid (biology), hybrid between this species and Anna's hummingbird was called ''"Trochilus" violajugulum''. The black-chinned hummingbird is also known to hybridize with Anna's hummingbird, Anna's, Lucifer hummingbird, Lucifer, broad-tailed hummingbird, broad-tailed, and Costa's hummingbirds. As of 2011, it has the smallest known genome of all living amniotes, only 0.91 pg (910 million base pairs). Description The black-chinned hummingbird is long. Adults are metallic green above and white below with green flanks. Their bill is long, straight and very slender. The adult male has a black face and chin, a glossy purple throat band and a dark forked tail. The female has a dark rounded tail with white tips and no throat patch; they are similar to female ruby-throated hummingbirds. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell's Vireo
Bell's vireo (''Vireo bellii'') is a songbird that migrates between a breeding range in Western North America and a winter range in Central America. It is dull olive-gray above and whitish below. It has a faint white eye ring and faint wing bars. This bird was named by Audubon for John Graham Bell, who accompanied him on his trip up the Missouri River in the 1840s. The least Bell's vireo (''Vireo bellii pusillus'') is an endangered subspecies in Southern California. Consideration of Bell's vireo has been a factor in several land development projects, to protect least Bell's vireo habitat. The decline of the least Bell's vireo is mostly due to a loss of riparian habitat. Description Measurements: * Length: 4.5-4.9 in (11.5-12.5 cm) * Weight: 0.3-0.3 oz (7.4-9.8 g) * Wingspan: 6.7-7.5 in (17-19 cm) Behavior and ecology Bell's vireos often use dense shrubbery including willows (''Salix spp.''), mulefat (''Baccharis glutinosa''), California wild rose (''Rosa californica''), mug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ash-throated Flycatcher
The ash-throated flycatcher (''Myiarchus cinerascens'') is a passerine bird in the tyrant flycatcher family. Taxonomy First described in 1851 by George Newbold Lawrence from a specimen collected in western Texas in the United States, the ash-throated flycatcher was initially given the scientific name ''Tyrannula cinerascens''. The species was mistakenly described again in 1851 as ''Tyrannula mexicanus'' — an error that was corrected in 1859 when Philip Lutley Sclater analyzed the tyrant flycatchers known from Mexico and realized that both scientific names referred to the same species. During the same analysis, Slater moved the ash-throated flycatcher from the genus ''Tyrannula'' to its current genus, ''Myiarchus''. In the past, the ash-throated flycatcher has sometimes been considered to be conspecific with Nutting's flycatcher, but there are morphological and vocal differences between the two. There is disagreement as to whether the two species hybridize. The ash-throated f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anna's Hummingbird
Anna's hummingbird (''Calypte anna'') is a medium-sized bird species of the family Trochilidae. It was named after Anna Masséna, Duchess of Rivoli. It is native to western coastal regions of North America. In the early 20th century, Anna's hummingbirds bred only in northern Baja California and southern California. The transplanting of exotic ornamental plants in residential areas throughout the Pacific coast and inland deserts provided expanded nectar and nesting sites, allowing the species to expand its breeding range. Year-round residence of Anna's hummingbirds in the Pacific Northwest is an example of ecological release dependent on acclimation to colder winter temperatures, introduced plants, and human provision of nectar feeders during winter. These birds feed on nectar from flowers using a long extendable tongue. They also consume small insects and other arthropods caught in flight or gleaned from vegetation. Taxonomy Anna's hummingbird was formally described and illu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Yellow Warbler
The yellow warbler (''Setophaga petechia'') is a New World warbler species. Yellow warblers are the most widespread species in the diverse genus ''Setophaga'', breeding in almost the whole of North America, the Caribbean, and down to northern South America. Etymology The genus name ''Setophaga'' is from Ancient Greek ''ses'', "moth", and ', "eating", and the specific ''petechia'' is from Italian ''petecchia'', a small red spot on the skin. The American yellow warbler is sometimes colloquially called the "summer yellowbird". Description and taxonomy Other than in male breeding plumage and body size, all warbler subspecies are very similar. Winter, female and immature birds all have similarly greenish-yellow uppersides and are a duller yellow below. Young males soon acquire breast and, where appropriate, head coloration. Females are somewhat duller, most notably on the head. In all, the remiges and rectrices are blackish olive with yellow edges, sometimes appearing as an indisti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red-shouldered Hawk
The red-shouldered hawk (''Buteo lineatus'') is a medium-sized buteo. Its breeding range spans eastern North America and along the coast of California and northern to northeastern-central Mexico. It is a permanent resident throughout most of its range, though northern birds do migrate, mostly to central Mexico. The main conservation threat to the widespread species is deforestation. Taxonomy The red-shouldered hawk was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it with the eagles, hawks and relatives in the genus '' Falco'' and coined the binomial name ''Falco lineatus''. Gmelin based his account on the "barred-breasted buzzard" of John Latham and the "red shouldered falcon" of Thomas Pennant. Latham had described a preserved specimen from North America in the Leverian collection while Pennant's specimen formed part of the collection of Anna Blackburne and had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grey Hawk
The gray hawk (''Buteo plagiatus'') or Mexican goshawk is a smallish raptor found in open country and forest edges. It is sometimes placed in the genus ''Asturina'' as ''Asturina plagiata''. The species was split by the American Ornithological Society (AOU) from the gray-lined hawk. The gray hawk is found from Costa Rica north into the southwestern United States. The gray hawk is in length and weighs on average. The adult has a pale gray body, the tail is black with three white bands and the legs are orange. It is a solid, unpatterned gray on the upper parts. Immature birds have dark brown upperparts, a pale-banded brown tail, brown-spotted white underparts and a brown streaked buff head and neck. This species is quite short-winged, and has a fast agile flight for a ''Buteo''. The call is a shrill whistled ''kleee-ooo''. Gray hawks feed mainly on lizards and snakes, but will also take small mammals, birds and frogs. It usually sits on an open high perch from which it swoops on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
