- List of Sonoran Desert birds (Arizona)
The following
bird species are "endemic" to theSonoran Desert , and related areas. They are retrieved from theList of Arizona-SW birds (Yuma County, Arizona) , though not exclusively.outhwest region
The listed birds are based on the "southern" section of the Lower
Colorado River Valley-LCRV, from Yuma County and La Paz County, to theBill Williams River , (and by extension to Needles, California/Topock, Arizona). The Colorado River borders the "higher elevation"Mojave Desert to the northwest(Needles and Las Vegas), theColorado Desert –(extension of Sonoran Desert) on the southwest and west, and the deserts of theSonoran Desert to the east, theYuma Desert ,Lechuguilla Desert , and theTule Desert (Arizona) .
Bolded species are exclusive to the hottest deserts (SW Arizona, Baja, California, N Mexico, and theCarrizo Plain , (Le Conte's Thrasher).*
Gambel's Quail , "Callipepla gambelii"
*Black Rail , "Laterallus jamaicensis"
** SW Ariz Sonoran desert, but also other locales.
*Greater Roadrunner , "Geococcyx californianus", (Extensive range beyond the Sonoran Desert)
*Gila Woodpecker , "Melanerpes uropygialis"
*Gilded Flicker , "Colaptes chrysoides"
*Vermilion Flycatcher , "Pyrocephalus rubinus"
*Brown-crested Flycatcher , "Myiarchus tyrannulus"
*Black-tailed Gnatcatcher , "Polioptila melanura"
** Also ranges E and S into theChihuahuan Desert , Texas and Mexico.
*Crissal Thrasher , "Toxostoma crissale", ranges S into Central Mexico
*Le Conte's Thrasher , "Toxostoma lecontei", Sonoran, and ranges into S Nevada–(locally: theCarrizo Plain , N of Los Angeles)
*Phainopepla , "Phainopepla nitens"
** Also ranges into California'sSan Joaquin Valley .
*Lucy's Warbler , "Vermivora luciae"
** Exclusive in Sonoran Desert, Summer Range, (includes theColorado River Valley, the Grand Canyon, and S Nevada).
*Abert's Towhee , "Pipilo aberti", "(–Sonoran Desert –)"
*Black-throated Sparrow , "Amphispiza bilineata"
**Permanent breeding range, (but ranges E to Texas, and also Summer ranges to very S Oregon, very S Idaho).
*Yellow-headed Blackbird , "Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus"
** Permanent in S "LowerColorado River Valley"–(LCRV).outheast region
The southeast Arizona region is defined by: 1–the mountains of eastern Arizona, extending into western and southwestern New Mexico; 2–the
sky island s defined by the NW–to–SE trending mountain ranges(formerly of theBasin and Range geology), also called regionally theMadrean sky islands ; and 3–the northernmost extension of the western spine mountain range of Mexico, theSierra Madre Occidental (West). The result is a biome region particular to its: geographic locale, elevation, and proximity to flyways, namely for the mountains(of Mexico, the United States, and to Canada), and for the proximity to theGulf of California ,Gulf of Mexico , and thePacific Ocean .
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