Sonoran Desert

Whispering Wind
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Desert scrubland wanderer. Found in washes in early evening and well into the night, grazing. Leaper of 15 foot bounds. Has the stamina to outlast many predators. Key identifiers are twin black ear tips and black stripe down back to tail. Transluscently large veinous ears shed excess daytime heat during scorching temps. Long legs carry this 3-9 pound body up to 40 mph. Has almost 360 degree vision- superb motion detecting ability! Has plenty of enemies, including ranchers. Loves mesquite. Cacti. Sagebrush. Grasses. Cecal pellets.

Purple People Eater

Whispering Wind
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A dazzling desert stud you are!

This male Costa's hummingbird (Calypte costae) is identified by his magnificent purple gorget and the white mid-line stripe down his breast that separates his green vest.

In courtship, he singles out his lady love and then zips to the sky, making sure she's watching, and falls into a u-shaped dive while crooning a unique whistle signature, distinct to his species. If she's unimpressed, he wiggles his luscious mantle in front of her, "until his glowing metallic face resembles a baby octopus." All lover, he's been caught creating hybrids with Anna's, Black-Chinned, and Broad-billed hummingbirds.

When the desert heat becomes too much, these little beauties retreat to chaparral, woodland, and riparian corridors.

Truly a diamond in the desert, he is.

Blue and Green Diamond

Whispering Wind
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An adult female Broad-Billed Hummingbird (Cynanthus latirostis) sweetly eyes me from her perch. She is a lover of arid canyons near streamside groves and migrates from Mexico to southeastern Arizona.

In Arizona, she occupies a small niche population and charms the occasional backyard birder with her amazing blue-green plummage. Females of this species are notable for constructing nests low to the ground and do not decorate them with lichen, a common nest characteristic of many other hummingbird species.