BIO 13 WEEKLY SPECIES ID (WKS 1-8)

California Scrub Jay

• native to California

• blue head, wings, and tail, necklace

• gray-brown back

• grayish underparts

• white eyebrows and throat

• call or "screech" is described as "harsh and scratchy"

• inhabits areas of low scrub, preferring pinon-juniper forests, oak woods, and edges of mixed evergreen forests

• feed on small animals, such as frogs and lizards, eggs and young of other birds, insects, and (particularly in winter) grains, nuts, and berries

• life span ~9 years

• adversely affected by the West Nile virus

Quercus lobata (Valley Oak)

• native to California

• found in dense riparian forests, open foothill woodlands, and valley savannas

• live up to 600 years

• may surpass 30 meters (98 feet) in height

• thick, ridged bark

• lobed leaves

• deciduous, requires year-round ground water

Northern Mockingbird

• upper parts are colored gray

• underparts have a white or whitish-gray color

• iris is usually a light green-yellow or a yellow

• bill is black with a brownish black appearance at the base

• measure from 20.5 to 28 cm

• lifespan is observed to be up to 8 years, but captive birds can live up to 20 years

• in the eastern regions, suburban and urban areas such as parks and gardens are frequent residential areas

• In western regions, desert scrub and chaparral are among its preferred habitats

• diet consists of arthropods (such as spiders, grasshoppers, wasps, bees, ants, beetles, butterflies, and caterpillars), earthworms, berries, fruits, seeds, and occasionally flowers, small crustaceans, and lizards

• imitate the vocalizations of other birds

Cercis occidentalis (Western Redbud)

• a deciduous shrub to small tree, growing up to 7 metres

• leaves are arranged alternately along the twigs and are simple, round, and slightly leathery, growing to 5–9 centimetres

• leave have heart shaped bases

• bright pink or magenta flowers

• abundant seeder and seeds have a high rate of germination

• wood is fine-grained, dark yellowish brown, with a thin layer of whitish sapwood.

• native habitats include foothill woodlands and chaparrals; they grow near stream banks in dry foothills and lower canyon slopes below 1,100 metres

• leaves are harvested by native leafcutter bees and the flowers are an important nectar and pollen source for native insects and hummingbirds.

Red-tailed Hawk

• breeds throughout most of North America

• occupies a wide range of habitats and altitudes, including deserts, grasslands, coniferous and deciduous forests, agricultural fields, and urban areas.

• favors varied habitats with open woodland, woodland edge and open terrain

• is legally protected in Canada, Mexico, and the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act

• 14 recognized subspecies

• whitish underbelly with a dark brown band across the belly, formed by horizontal streaks in feather patterning, is present in most color variations

• most adult red-tails have a dark-brown nape and upper head, which gives them a somewhat hooded appearance, while the throat can variably present a lighter brown "necklace"

• red-tail

Platanus racemosa (Western Sycamore)

• native to California and Baja California

• grows in riparian areas, canyons, floodplains, at springs and seeps, and along streams and rivers in several types of habitats.

• grows to 35 meters

• trunk generally divides into two or more large trunks splitting into many branches

• bark is an attractive patchwork of white, tawny beige, pinkish gray, and pale brown

• large palmately lobed leaves may be up to 25 centimetres (9.8 in) centimeters wide and have three or five pointed lobes

• many small birds feed on its fruit, and several mammals eat its twigs and bark

• female flower heads develop into spherical fruit clusters each made up of many hairy, maroon-red-woolly achenes

• more susceptible to cross-breeding with other Platanus trees.

Canis latrans (Coyote)

• native to North America

• 19 recognized subspecies

• average male weighs 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lb) and the average female 7 to 18 kg (15 to 40 lb)

• fur color is predominantly light gray and red or fulvous interspersed with black and white

• diet consists mainly of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates

• live either in a family unit or in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals

• somtimes mate with gray wolves

• use a den, usually the deserted holes of other species

• dens can be located in canyons, washouts, coulees, banks, rock bluffs, or level ground

• communicate through howling

• hunted by cougars and gray wolves

Amsinckia menziesii (Common Fiddleneck)

• has a terminal flowering whorl somewhat shaped like the head of a violin or fiddle

• flowers are yellow-orange, orange, or dark yellow

• the favorite food of Lawrence's goldfinch during that Californian bird's nesting season of spring and early summer

• native to western North America

• considered a weed in Australia

Otospermophilus beecheyi (California Ground Squirrel)

• upper parts are mottled, with the fur containing a mixture of gray, light brown and dusky hairs

• shoulders, neck and sides are a lighter gray

• fur around the eyes is whitish

• underside is lighter, buff or grayish yellow

• head and body are about 30 cm (12 in) long and the tail an additional 15 centimetres (5.9 in)

• can weigh from 280 to 738 g

• live in burrows

• commonly feed on seeds, such as oats, but also eat insects such as crickets and grasshoppers, as well as various fruits

• preyed on by rattlesnakes, eagles, raccoons, foxes, badgers, and weasels

• live up to six years

Datura wrightii (Sacred Datura)

• native to the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico

• poisonous perennial plant

• used as a hallucinogen

• toothed leaves

• grows 30 cm to 1.5 m tall and wide

• flowers are fragrant white trumpets, sometimes with a purple tint

• often can be seen as a ground vine in habit, growing close to the ground and spreading in a very exposed environment with full direct sunlight

• flowers open in the morning and evening and close during the heat of the day

• invasive in Australia

• may be fatal if ingested by humans, livestock, or pets

• sacred to some Native Americans and has been used in ceremonies and rites of passage by Chumash, Tongva, and others

Odocoileus hemionus (Mule Deer)

• indigenous to western North America

• found only on the western Great Plains, in the Rocky Mountains, in the southwest United States, and on the west coast of North America

• can be divided into two main groups: the mule deer and the black-tailed deer

• tail is black-tipped

• antlers are bifurcated; they "fork" as they grow

• does not generally show marked size variation across its range

• antlers fall off during the winter

• predators of mule deer are coyotes, wolves, and cougars

• eat forb vegetation, small amounts of grass and, where available, tree or shrub fruits such as beans, pods, nuts (including acorns), and berries.

• chronic wasting disease

• migrate from low elevation winter ranges to high elevation summer ranges

Bromus rubens (Red Brome)

• winter annual grass, growing solitary or tufted, with erect or ascending culms growing 20–70 cm

• leaf sheaths are downy or slightly hairy

• pikelets vary in color from green to distinctly purplish-red

• emerges in early winter and remains dormant until spring when heavy rainfall and higher temperatures stimulate growth

• grow during periods of heavy rainfall, and populations can be wiped out during extended periods of drought

• native to southern and western Europe

• was brought to North America in 1848 and was naturalized by the 1890s.

• in North America, it grows in waste areas, road verges, and disturbed areas, in both ranges primarily on dry stony or sandy soil

• in its native range the grass grows in cultivated fields and steppes

Sceloporus occidentalis (Western Fence Lizard)

• native to Arizona, New Mexico, and California, as well as Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Northern Mexico

• known as the blue-belly

• brown to black in color (the brown may be sandy or greenish) and have black stripes on their backs, but their most distinguishing characteristic is their bright blue bellies

• ventral sides of the limbs are yellow

• male blue belly lizards also have blue patches on their throats

• found in grassland, broken chaparral, sagebrush, woodland, coniferous forest, and farmland, and occupies elevations from sea level to 10,800 ft

• have evolved to have shorter limbs and toes

• commonly seen basking on paths, rocks, and fence posts, and other suitable sunny locations

• primarily eats small invertebrates

• lyme disease

Pinus lambertiana (Sugar Pine)

• tallest and most massive pine tree and has the longest cones of any conifer

• native to coastal and inland mountain areas along the Pacific coast of North America, as far north as Oregon and as far south as Baja California in Mexico

• 40–60 meters tall

• bark ranges from brown to purple in color

• longest cones of any conifer, mostly 10–50 cm

• never grows in pure stands, always in a mixed forest, and is shade tolerant in its youth

• threatened by mountain pine beetle

• tinsled leaves

House Finch

• native to Mexico and southwestern United States

• square-tipped brown tail and are a brown or dull-brown color across the back with some shading into deep gray on the wing feathers

• breast and belly feathers may be streaked

• adult males' heads, necks and shoulders are reddish

• colors range from pale straw-yellow through bright orange (both rare) to deep, intense red

• songs typically consist of a series of high-pitched musical jumbles ending with a distinct high note, wheer

• primarily eat grains, seeds and berries

• naturalized in largely unforested land

Populus fremontii (Fremont Cottonwood)

• native to riparian zones of the Southwestern United States and northern through central Mexico

• grows near streams, rivers, springs, seeps, wetlands, and well-watered alluvial bottomlands at elevations below 2,000 metres

• long leaves, are cordate (heart-shaped) with an elongated tip, with white veins and coarse crenate teeth along the sides, glabrous to hairy, and often stained with milky resin

• bark is smooth when young, becoming deeply fissured with whitish, cracked bark on old trees

• long, drooping catkin, which blooms from March to April

• fruit is a wind-dispersed achene, that appears to look like patches of cotton hanging from limbs, thus the name cottonwood.