What's Birds are Missing from Your Neighborhood?

Cassin's vireo was a surprise visitor to the neighborhood last week. I had not seen it in the neighborhood this year, or ever for that matter. I didn't get a photo of it because, again, I didn't take the camera. It was just a short walk around the block with the dogs! Cassin's vireos are migrating through our area on their way from Mexico to the Pacific Northwest and southwest Canada.You can learn more about Cassin's vireo here.

Northern mockingbird on a wire, Palo Verde Neighborhood

A friend wrote that when she saw her neighborhood mockingbird on a telephone pole she thought of me. It had appeared at just the time of day it always does. I hope that means she thinks of me as reliable. Maybe it's just that birds remind people of me. It's nice to have those reliable old friends in the neighborhood, as well as the surprise species.

That reminded me of when I lived in central Mexico and a visiting ornithologist commented that the habitat there should be good for mockingbirds. But there were few to be found. He speculated that mockingbirds hatchlings were easy to capture and sell in the cage-bird trade. In fact, I saw many mockingbirds in cages. They are good singers and they livened up courtyards all around the city.

Cactus wren in a cholla, Palo Verde Neighborhood

Thinking of that made me wonder what birds aren't here that should be. I have noticed that cactus wrens are not as common as I expected. Just today I found a cactus wren for only the second time. They are curious and unafraid, experimental and canny. You'd think these would be great traits for adapting to urban areas, and that they'd be common. When I worked at the VA Medical Center in an old, two-story wooden building, sometimes birds wandered in to the screened porch area--or were scared in by passing cars. Mourning doves and Gila woodpeckers came in pretty often and had a devil of a time finding their way out. Cactus wrens came in on purpose, though holes in the screens or the broken door. They foraged for food or nesting materials, and then went out the way they got it--which they apparently remembered. I never had to rescue them. Why are these adaptable birds almost absent from my neighborhood?

Rachael McCaffrey, in her doctoral studies at the University of Arizona, found that if her urban study plots had cholla cacti, she would more frequently find cactus wrens. They like to nest in the cacti. The presence of a place to nest seemed all that was really necessary. Chollas are not a very common landscaping choice around here, so maybe that explains it. However, there are some places that have them. Interestingly, where they do occur many of them have thrasher nests. Few have cactus wrens. I wonder what's going on. They are known to compete with thrashers for nesting space.

Maybe it's less of a surprise to find a Cassin's vireo than I thought.