Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Scott L. Wilbor

August 2006

Tucson Audubon Society

T&E, Inc.

Tucson Audubon and the Arizona Important Bird Areas Program This document was written by Kendall Kroesen, Habitat Restoration Project Manager, and Scott Wilbor, Arizona Important Bird Areas Program Conservation Biologist, Tucson Audubon Society. This document is made available by the Tucson Audubon Society and the Arizona Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program. Tucson Audubon Society is dedicated to improving the quality of the environment by providing education, conservation, and recreation programs, as well as environmental leadership and information. The Society co-administers the Arizona IBA Program with leadership of the program’s avian science initiative and southern Arizona IBA conservation efforts, conducts riparian habitat restoration, provides environmental education opportunities for children and adults, guides public policy-makers on environmental issues, runs two Audubon Nature Shops and manages conservation lands in both Pima and Santa Cruz Counties. Tucson Audubon is southeast Arizona’s leader in introducing people to the joys of bird watching. Contact Tucson Audubon at: Tucson Audubon Society 300 E. University Blvd., #120 Tucson, AZ 85705 [email protected] (520) 622-5266 www.tucsonaudubon.org The Arizona Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program is part of a worldwide effort to identify areas with important bird habitat, and to work with landowners and managers to maintain that habitat in a way that protects bird populations. The program seeks to involve citizens in bird population monitoring at IBAs and promotes the conservation of important habitat for birds. It is overseen by the National Audubon Society in the United States and Bird Life International globally. The Arizona IBA Program is jointly administrated by Audubon Arizona and the Tucson Audubon Society. For more information, contact: Tice Supplee, Director of Bird Conservation Audubon Arizona 4250 E. Camelback Road, Suite 310K Phoenix, AZ 85018 [email protected] (602) 468-6470 Scott Wilbor, Arizona Important Bird Areas Program Conservation Biologist Tucson Audubon Society 300 E. University Blvd., #120 Tucson, AZ 85705 [email protected] (520) 628-1730

©Copyright Tucson Audubon Society, August 2006

i Acknowledgements The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. Forest Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service, with matching funds from Arizona Game and Fish Department, Arizona Audubon Council and the T & E, Inc. funded this Sabino Creek Important Bird Area Habitat Guide through a grant to Tucson Audubon Society’s Arizona Important Bird Areas Program. Tucson Audubon members also supported this effort. We thank each of these organizations and Tucson Audubon members for their essential support of conservation efforts for southern Arizona riparian areas. We thank all staff members at Tucson Audubon Society for their contributions in support of this document and grant management. In particular, we especially thank the Executive Director, Sonja Macys, for her review, suggestions and editing of this landowner guide. We also especially thank volunteer June Scroggin who donated her time and expertise to produce the final layout design for this guide.

ii

Contents

INTRODUCTION...... 1 SABINO CREEK ...... 1 ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT...... 2 WATER ...... 3 VEGETATION ...... 3 WILDLIFE AND BIRDS OF SABINO CREEK ...... 4 AS AN IMPORTANT BIRD AREA...... 6 THREATS TO SABINO CREEK ENVIRONMENT ...... 8 DEVELOPMENT ...... 8 INVASIVE EXOTIC PLANTS AND ANIMALS ...... 8 DOMESTIC ANIMALS ...... 9 LANDSCAPING/PRUNING OF RIPARIAN SPECIES...... 9 UNWISE WILDLIFE FEEDING...... 10 GROUNDWATER PUMPING—DESERTIFICATION...... 10 ROADWAYS/ROADKILL ...... 11 HUMAN CHANGES TO FLOODPLAIN, EROSION ...... 11 WOOD CUTTING ...... 11 WILDCAT DUMPING/TRASH/LITTER ...... 11 FIRE...... 11 LANDOWNER GUIDANCE...... 12 STARTING INSIDE YOUR HOME ...... 12 OUTSIDE YOUR HOME...... 12 Feeding and Watering Wildlife...... 12 The Plants in Your Landscape ...... 14 The Water in Your Landscape...... 14 The Shape of Your Landscape...... 17 IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD ...... 17 Deed Restrictions for Conservation...... 17 HOW YOU CAN BENEFIT BIRD SPECIES OF CONCERN...... 20 CONCLUSION...... 23 APPENDIX A: BIRDS SPECIES OF CONCERN OF SABINO CREEK ...... 24 APPENDIX B: NATIVE PLANTS USEFUL IN HABITAT RESTORATION AND WHERE TO FIND THEM...... 25 1. NATIVE PLANTS USEFUL IN HABITAT RESTORATION AND ENHANCEMENT ...... 25 2. SOURCES OF NATIVE PLANTS AND SEED ...... 26 APPENDIX C: SCIENTIFIC NAMES OF SPECIES MENTIONED IN THIS DOCUMENT ...... 27 PLANTS...... 27 BIRDS ...... 27 FISH...... 28 MAMMALS...... 28 REPTILES ...... 28 AMPHIBIANS...... 28 INVERTEBRATES ...... 28 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 29

iii Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Introduction

This document is a guide for landowners who want to help assure the survival of riparian (streamside) habitat along Sabino Creek. It is designed to give practical advice to those who enjoy the creek’s lush vegetation and colorful wildlife and want to see them continue to thrive.

Figure 1: Dense riparian vegetation growing along Sabino Creek. Photo Credit: Scott L. Wilbor.

Sabino Creek Sabino Creek is one of the principal streams flowing from the Santa Catalina Mountains into the Tucson basin. After a long trip down from the sides of Mt. Lemmon, the creek emerges onto the sedimentary deposits that form the “Foothills” area of Tucson. It runs through the Sabino Creek Recreation Area, which is part of the Coronado National Forest and then onto private lands. Farther down it converges with Tanque Verde Creek. Intact riparian habitat, such as that found along Sabino Creek, has been all but eliminated from the state of Arizona. Statewide, it is estimated that only 5% of this habitat remains, yet it provides food, shelter and 80% of the state’s wildlife in some portion of their life cycle. Sabino Creek is an important resource. It is one of the few remaining locations within urban Tucson where riparian habitat, and the creatures that inhabit it, can be conserved.

Introduction 1 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Environmental Context The portion of Sabino Creek between the Coronado National Forest and Tanque Verde Creek is mostly privately owned. Wildlife shares this area with people, their pets, their homes, their landscaped yards, their schools, and other human uses. The creek can be a place where people, environment and wildlife all get along, as long as people are willing to take a few steps toward coexistence. The Arizona Important Bird Areas Program has identified Sabino Creek and Bear Creek as an “Important Bird Area.” The Sabino Creek floodplain is designated by the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan as an “Important Riparian Area.” Here are a few specific characteristics of the creek that make it special.

Figure 2: Map showing where Sabino Creek sits within the Tucson-area watershed. Photo credit: Pima County.

Figure 3: Aerial photo of the lower end of the Sabino recreation area and the northern end of the privately held portion of Sabino Creek. Photo credit: Pima County.

Environmental Context 2 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 4: Pima County’s Conservation Land System designations for Sabino Creek from the National Forest boundary south to the Pantano Wash. Blue is designated “Important Riparian Areas;” dark green is “Biological Core Management Areas;” light green is “Multiple Use Management Areas;” The smaller blue area to the left is Ventana Wash. Near the top, Bear Creek comes in from the east to join Sabino Creek. Photo Credit: Pima County.

Water The upstream part of the creek is considered to have “perennial” water (usually flowing all year) while the lower part has “intermittent” flow. Flowing surface water in the Tucson area is now much rarer than it was 100 years ago. Flowing water rarely reaches Tanque Verde Creek, but instead sinks into the sandy creek bed. As it does so, it recharges the local aquifer. Most of the aquifers in the Tucson area have been pumped to such a degree that the water table is now much lower. This has caused riparian vegetation to die, increased pumping costs, and caused wells to yield more heavily mineralized water. While there is still intact riparian vegetation along Sabino Creek, pumping has increased and is a threat to this vegetation.

Vegetation Unlike most of the Tucson area, where it’s common to find exotic trees, vegetation along Sabino Creek is thick with cottonwoods, willows, ashes, elderberries and other native trees, and only occasional non-natives. Shrubs are not the usual desert fare but consist of more water-loving plants such as buttonbushes, native cotton, white-ball acacia, desert honeysuckle and many others. On the floor of the floodplain, although some non-native weeds have invaded, there are plenty of native wildflowers and grasses. Tall trees and dense, green vegetation are a sight for sore eyes. They help make Sabino Creek a scenic wonder. A shady, bare-foot stroll in the creek on a hot summer day is a treasure in Tucson. As well, this cool, green environment is critical for wildlife.

Environmental Context 3 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 5: Ash and cottonwoods intermix in this upper reach of Sabino Creek on private land. Photo credit: The Nature Conservancy.

Wildlife and Birds of Sabino Creek Habitat along streams and rivers is extremely important as a corridor for movement of local wildlife, a place for them to find food, a nesting area for native birds, and as a stopover for birds making long-distance migrations through the Sonoran Desert. Many wildlife species depend entirely on riparian habitat. Many others use it at one time or another in their lives. Mammals like bobcats, opossums, foxes, coatis, raccoons, deer, bats, and many others, live in the rich creek floodplain. A large range of reptiles and amphibians also call Sabino Creek home. One native fish, the Gila chub, still inhabits Sabino Creek and while others have disappeared, the creek holds potential to support reintroductions of those species. Birds love Sabino Creek. Over 100 species can be found there. Some, like Abert’s Towhee, spend their entire lives there and are entirely dependent on riparian vegetation to find food and places to nest. Others that winter in the tropics come in the spring to nest along the creek, such as Bell’s Vireo and Brown-crested Flycatcher. Yet others, such as the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, nest in the far north but come south in the winter and depend on the creek’s large riparian trees to find their food. Still more species of birds winter in the south and nest to our north, but need to make stops in riparian vegetation along their migration route. These include birds such as Lazuli Buntings and Wilson’s Warblers. Several of the species found along the creek have declined in southern Arizona due to the loss of riparian habitat in other areas.

Environmental Context 4 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 6: Brown-crested Flycatcher, a summer breeding species along Sabino Creek. Photo credit: Christopher James Vincent.

Figure 7: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, an over-wintering species along Sabino Creek. Photo credit: James Prudente

Figure 8: Lazuli Bunting, a short-distance migrant species (and potential nesting species) that uses Sabino Creek. Photo credit: rshantz.com

Environmental Context 5 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 9: Wilson's Warbler, a long-distance migrant species that uses Sabino Creek. Photo credit: rshantz.com

As an Important Bird Area Audubon’s Important Bird Area (IBA) Program in Arizona reviewed and approved Sabino and Bear Creek as an IBA in 2004. Sabino and Bear Creeks qualified for IBA status because they have significant populations of species listed as “Species of Conservation Concern”. The IBA Program classifies any species listed by international union, federal or state government/organization, or the Audubon WatchList, as “Species of Conservation Concern.” Population numbers of these species are reviewed by the IBA Science Committee to assess their significance in regards to meeting this criterion. Populations of the following nesting species were determined to be significant: Broad-billed Hummingbird, Costa’s Hummingbird, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Bell’s Vireo, Lucy’s Warbler, Abert’s Towhee and Rufous-winged Sparrow. Also, present, but in lesser numbers are Elf Owl, Gilded Flicker, Purple Martin and Brewer’s Sparrow. Additionally, Belted Kingfisher, a relatively uncommon species in Arizona, spends the winter within the Sabino and Bear Creeks IBA. See Appendix A for the “listed” species by agencies and organizations that occur within this IBA. In Section V we discuss some of these bird species and how they can benefit from riparian habitat maintenance and enhancement. The Important Bird Areas concept is one of citizen participation. This can include citizens collecting bird data for scientific monitoring efforts. Or citizens can act as site stewards, taking notes of ecological conditions, cooperating with public land managers, working to clean up trash, and improving the ecosystem. Or people can participate in habitat restoration, working to create wildlife habitat on their own land or participating with groups who have programs to remove invasive non-native plants, in order to benefit native plant communities and wildlife populations that do better in native vegetation. The Tucson Audubon Society and the Arizona Important Bird Areas Program has made the Sabino and Bear Creeks IBA a priority for conservation attention given its uniqueness in the Sonoran desert, importance to bird species of concern, and importance to human communities within the Tucson basin.

Environmental Context 6 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 10: Broad-billed Hummingbird. Photo credit: John H. Hoffman.

Figure 11: Bell's Vireo. Photo credit: Steve Maslowski/USFWS.

Figure 12: Abert's Towhee. Photo credit: John H. Hoffman.

Environmental Context 7 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Threats to Sabino Creek Environment Today there are many threats to the unique vegetation and wildlife along Sabino Creek. These threats will be described briefly. Following a description of threats, landowners will be provided guidance as to how to keep the creek healthy. Development Development of homes, schools and other types of construction reduce the amount of habitat that is available to wildlife. They result in less native vegetation, more pavement and many other impediments that reduce the usefulness to wildlife of surrounding habitat. This is particularly true when developments invade the actual floodplain. To this point, much of the development near Sabino Creek has been individual dwellings on large lots. This conserves more habitat than large, high density housing developments. Along much of the creek lot sizes are still relatively large. However, continued subdivision of lots and new construction could continue to remove habitat. Invasive Exotic Plants and Animals Many non-native plants and animals have arrived in the Sabino Creek floodplain, and others may arrive in the future. Some of these can have a profoundly negative effect on wildlife habitat. Invasive exotic plants currently found in the floodplain include African sumac, arundo (giant reed), thistles, red brome, Bermuda grass, Lehmann lovegrass and Johnson grass. Without the normal checks and balances that control them in their home ranges, such plants often grow rampant and out compete the native plants that provide more suitable habitat for wildlife. Certain non-native animals have also gotten into the creek’s ecosystem. Again, without their normal predators, they often compete with natives. At Sabino Creek, these include bullfrogs, mosquitofish, green sunfish, and crayfish. These animals cause other native fish and frogs to decline, and can make them disappear altogether. In fact, they have contributed to the disappearance of the Gila topminnow from Sabino Creek, and declining numbers of Gila chub.

Figure 13: African sumac (Rhus lancea) is among the invasive, non-native plants that can be found along Sabino Creek. Photo credit: Kendall Kroesen.

Threats to Sabino Creek Environment 8 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Domestic Animals Cattle probably no longer have access to most of Sabino Creek below the National Forest, but they are a major threat to riparian areas where they do gain entrance. When people build houses, they bring with them cats and dogs. When these domestic animals, particularly cats, spend time outdoors off-leash, they are a major threat to wildlife. They are a particularly great threat in the creek’s floodplain where wildlife is concentrated due to the rich vegetation and cool, shady climate.

Landscaping/Pruning of Riparian Species When people build homes they landscape the area around their homes. While landscaping may provide a certain aesthetic, at times it may be inconsistent with providing habitat for wildlife. For example, where native trees and plants remain in place, they are sometimes pruned in ways that make them less useful to wildlife. Low branches of trees like mesquites and acacias may be removed to “improve” their shape, but this may remove the low perches and nest locations that some birds prefer, and reduce the tree’s food potential for birds that forage for small insects along branches and stems. Likewise, some bushes that normally grow down to the ground and provide cover and nesting opportunities for birds like quail may have their low branches removed too. Often native plants are removed completely and non-natives are introduced. These non-natives have not co-evolved with local wildlife and are not likely to be as useful to animals as are natives. In addition, some of the non-native plants may be of the invasive variety noted above. These can escape people’s yards and start to infest adjacent natural areas. Non-native plants may also be more water-loving than many of the desert species—even native species that grow in riparian areas. The non-natives may require additional watering which is not wise in the desert, and could contribute to over-pumping the aquifer. Non-native species, particularly turf grasses, are not particularly hardy and may require protection from predators and weeds. This motivates people to use pesticides and herbicides to protect their plants or lawns. Pesticides and herbicides can enter the food chain, build up in the bodies of animals, and shorten their lives or reduce their reproductive rates.

Figure 14: Mesquites from which the bottom branches have been pruned, limiting habitat for some wildlife. Photo credit: Kendall Kroesen.

Threats to Sabino Creek Environment 9 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Unwise Wildlife Feeding People who live near natural areas are often tempted to feed wildlife. This can lure some animals into yards where they are more likely to be killed by domestic cats and dogs. Feeding wildlife can also present dangers to people and their pets. Food on the ground that attracts rodents may also attract animals that eat rodents, such as rattlesnakes and coyotes. Rattlesnakes may attack pets or people, and coyotes have been known to kill pets. When javelinas or coyotes find food around houses, they may become accustomed to being around people. But they do not become tame. They may become belligerent when they are hungry. This endangers them as well as people, because the animals then must be controlled by more forceful means. The presence of javelinas may also bring in their main predator, the mountain lion. When mountain lions become accustomed to hunting around houses, they are often killed in order to protect people and their pets. Except for birds, it is generally not a good idea to feed wild animals, and may soon be against Arizona law to do so. Please see the section on “feeding and watering wildlife” below for tips on safe feeding.

Groundwater Pumping—Desertification Large riparian areas along Tucson’s major waterways have been turned into desert in part because the water table has fallen in response to groundwater pumping. Pumping is one of the most important causes of riparian habitat loss. There are 186 wells within one mile of lower Sabino Creek. Most of them are domestic wells that are not required to report the amount of water they pump. There are 75 wells that are required to report, and together they pump about 3,603 acre-feet (1,174,041,153 gallons) out of the ground per year. Pima County reports that Sabino Creek is among the streams in the county with the highest annual reported pumping. The survival of streamside habitat along Sabino Creek is threatened by the potential for groundwater pumping to lower the water table below the root zone of riparian trees and shrubs.

Figure 15: Looking west, the confluence of Sabino and Tanque Verde Creeks and desertification of riparian habitat. Photo credit: Kendall Kroesen.

Threats to Sabino Creek Environment 10 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Roadways/Roadkill Some of the wildlife that lives along Sabino Creek is undoubtedly killed by vehicles on the roads near the creek. For comparison, recent studies at Saguaro National Park suggest that 50,000 animals are killed every year on roads in and near the park. Road kills are already a significant danger to wildlife, and expansion of road systems near the creek would increase the danger.

Human Changes to Floodplain, Erosion Changes made to the width, depth or shape of floodplains often have detrimental effects on wildlife habitat. This usually takes the form of efforts to control flooding where buildings or bridges enter the floodplain. Flood control efforts often constrict the stream channel and, when floods come, cause water velocities to increase. This can result in loss of vegetation and “down-cut” streams, like the Santa Cruz River and the Rillito. Erosion can take the stream bottom below the current water table, draining it and causing it to lower still farther into the ground.

Wood Cutting Healthy riparian forests contain trees of a wide range of ages, as well as dead wood from fallen trees. The latter decay and become the host of wide variety of reptiles, arthropods and other animals. Cutting wood, even dead trees, decreases habitat opportunities for wildlife and weakens the entire ecosystem.

Wildcat Dumping/Trash/Litter Trash is not only unsightly, but can be a hazard to wildlife. Animals can eat trash items that are not good for them, or they may get tangled in things like plastic six-pack holders. Illegal dumping may introduce toxins into the environment if the materials dumped contain substances such as photography chemicals, industrial chemicals, cleaning solutions, paints, pesticides, insecticides, and so on.

Fire Vegetation along Sabino Creek often looks wet and green. But streamside habitats such as this, particular the mesquite bosques (forests) on the edges of the floodplain, are capable of burning. The Tucson area has two dry seasons (spring and fall) when grasses and shrubs can be quite desiccated. Drought can lengthen and accentuate these dry periods. Riparian forests will burn easily at such times. While fires may be a natural part of some ecosystems, increasing the frequency of fires through human carelessness can damage streamside habitat irreparably.

Threats to Sabino Creek Environment 11 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Landowner Guidance

The following measures can help protect the scenic and wildlife-rich habitat along Sabino Creek. They help wildlife populations stay at healthy levels, which is critical to their survival, particularly during natural disasters such as floods or droughts.

Starting Inside your Home Generally speaking, the more conservative we are with the resources we use, the easier we are on the environment. If we buy products with less packaging, fewer trees are cut down. If we use compact fluorescent lighting instead of traditional incandescent bulbs, less coal and oil are burned in our power plants. And so on. While there are many household conservation practices that help the environment in general ways, conservative use of water very directly helps Sabino Creek. Installation of low-flow taps, shower heads and toilets are the beginning of a conservative approach to water use. Look also for low-water washing machines and dishwashers (you can start with the federal government’s “Energy Star” program, at www.energystar.gov). Those willing to go farther can investigate reuse of water. “Gray” water (water from sinks, showers and washing machines) can be used to water plants in the landscape. A helpful pamphlet about this is available from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (azdeq.gov/environ/water/permits/download/graywater.pdf). More about this further on. Of course, the most important step toward conservative water use is to think about where that water is coming from. This helps you to think about how much of it you really need to use.

Outside Your Home Nature knows what is best for wildlife. So, the more native vegetation you leave intact around your home, the more habitats for wildlife your land will provide. Consider leaving as much of your land as possible in its wild state. Inevitably, some land around your home will not be in its wild state. There are many good reasons for this. Some vegetation has to be removed in the process of construction work. (If you are about to build a new home, consider recovering and potting some native plants for later reintroduction to the landscape!) Dense brush very near your home can result in fire danger. In addition, underbrush close to your home may also encourage some wildlife that you don’t want close to your house, such as packrats and the rattlesnakes that prey on them. You may also have ideas about how you want your landscape be sculptured, rather than just taking what you get. These are all legitimate reasons for designing a landscape, but think about incorporating the following ideas into your landscaping.

Feeding and Watering Wildlife In the long run, wildlife is helped much more by intact, diverse, native vegetation than by artificial feeding. In addition, feeding wildlife can have serious side-effects. Wildlife, particularly javelinas and coyotes, can become accustomed to foraging in residential areas. They will not become tame, but they may become habituated (i.e. unafraid of people). When this happens, they often have to be controlled. This turns out worse for them than it is for us. In addition, at the time of this writing the Arizona State Legislature is considering making illegal the feeding of wildlife (except birds and ground squirrels). At Tucson Audubon many of us enjoy feeding birds. Here are some tips to feeding birds safely.

Landowner Guidance 12 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

1. Fill seed feeders with only the seed that birds will eat in one morning. Inevitably, some seeds fall on the ground. During the rest of the day these will be picked up by doves and sparrows. If seeds are still lying around at night, they may attract mammals like packrats and javelinas that you don’t want around your house. Actually, you may not mind them so much, but they can attract their predators, rattlesnakes and mountain lions. You may not want these around your house. And it’s bad for them—again, they may get accustomed to being around residences and have to be “controlled” (often killed). 2. For the same reason, don’t put food directly on the ground for birds (including quail blocks). Other animals will get to it, starting the same chain of events. 3. Limit the amount of food available in one place. When large numbers of seeds are present in one place, particularly on the ground, big flocks of doves and pigeons may congregate. Avian diseases can spread through these birds, and then get picked up by other birds they mingle with, or by predators (such as hawks) that eat them. 4. Clean seed feeders occasionally. Use a soapy solution, or a bleach solution. 5. Properly maintain hummingbird feeders. Use only sugar water made from granulated sugar (no honey or other substitutes). Mix one part sugar to four parts water (perhaps five parts water in the warm months, when water may evaporate and concentrate the solution). Do not add food coloring. The red-colored parts built into feeders are more than enough to attract hummingbirds. Clean feeders regularly since unwanted bacteria grow easily in sugar-water. Clean them at least once a week in the warm months.

Figure 16: Black-chinned Hummingbird at feeder. Photo credit: rshantz.com.

6. Place feeders in open areas where birds have a 360-degree view and are less likely to be surprised by cats or other predators. 7. Place feeders in areas where birds will not run the risk of colliding with glass. To protect birds from collisions with windows, particularly large clear windows, apply silhouettes of hawks or owls (or other materials).

Here are some tips about providing water for birds. 1. Birds congregate at bird baths the same way they do around excessive seed. Keep bird baths clean, particularly in the warm months. The easiest way to do this is to let the bird bath dry out once a week and spend a full day baking in the sun. This will kill microorganisms. Brush dirt and debris out of the bath, and then refill.

Landowner Guidance 13 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

2. Some people put make-shift water sources on the ground. This may attract more than birds. If you don’t want to attract rodents, javelinas, coyotes and the other animals that prey on them consider elevating the water or buying a typical bird bath on a pedestal. 3. Like feeders, place bird baths in open areas where predators are less likely to be able to sneak up on birds.

The Plants in Your Landscape There are many, many plant species native to the Sonoran Desert that you can use in your landscape. Native wildlife knows how to use native plants, and the plants often benefit from the presence of wildlife (e.g., through pollination). Plants and wildlife have co-evolved—they have adapted themselves to each other. Many native plants are very attractive as well. They may attract hummingbirds, provide protection and nesting opportunities to other birds, or just be places where animals can rest in the shade. A list of native plants, and where you can find them, can be found in Appendix B. The farther away a plant comes from, the less likely it is to benefit our local wildlife, and the more likely it is to become a pest. Consider using only native plants in your landscaping. If you use other plants, please investigate them to make sure they are not among the invasive non-native plants that are threatening our Sonoran Desert Environment. Good sources of information are the Arizona Native Plant Society exotic species information (www.aznps.org/html/exotics.html) and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Invaders Program (www.desertmuseum.org/invaders/invaders_about.htm). Native plants have yet another benefit. They are also resistant to native pests. You will not have to use pesticides on native plants they way some people do on lawns and other exotic shrubs. Pesticides get into the soil, into insects, into birds and reptiles that eat insects, and into other animals that eat them. This would not be a healthy thing for Sabino Creek’s animals. Do you really need a lawn? Lawns use huge amounts of water—way more than you can supply through rainwater harvesting or gray water use (more about those below). They are often attacked by pests, ranging from insects to rabbits. They temp you to introduce toxic herbicides and chemical fertilizers. If you must have a lawn, try to keep it small. Put it in places where trees or your house will shade it, to reduce water use. The Water in Your Landscape The water that comes out of the spigot in your back yard comes from the aquifer or, in some cases, from the Colorado River. Tax money is spent to get it to you and to make sure it is clean enough to drink and shower in. Water that goes to your landscape plants does not need to be that clean (or expensive). There are other ways of getting water to your landscape besides your potable water supply. Rainwater harvesting: Landscapes may be shaped either so that rainwater runs off, or so that it stays. If it stays, it soaks into the ground and provides moisture to the roots of plants. If it runs off it may soak in somewhere, but it doesn’t help your landscape. Think of making your landscape “concave” where ever possible, rather than “convex.” Concavities, like small basins and swales, catch water and hold it, allowing it to soak in (Figure 16). If you plant your landscape plants in or near basins, they will benefit from the additional soil moisture.

Landowner Guidance 14 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 17: Rainwater harvesting basin. Photo credit: Rodd Lancaster.

Plants that are planted at the tops of little hills or on slopes will benefit very little, since very little rainwater will soak in around them. It is a shame that we see so much landscaping where plants are planted on small, artificial hills that shed rainwater. The plants on these hills usually require frequent watering, even if they are drought-tolerant native species. Another way to encourage rain to soak in is to slow down any rainwater that runs in rivulets or other small drainages. Normally dry, these fill with water when it rains. Putting small rock dams, called “gabions,” across such drainages will slow water down, allowing some of it that collects behind the dam to infiltrate. This also conserves fine soils and organic matter picked up by the water, which tends to deposit in the gentle water behind the dam. Remember, the idea is not to build a dam that stops all the water. It should be a “leaky” dam that lets water through, but slows its flow. You should not try this with washes. The larger flows in washes require an engineered gabion with rock that is wired in, and which is keyed deeply into the sides of the wash so that high flows to not carry it away. Worried about mosquitoes? Keep your basins small. Unless you have bedrock or very hard soil very close to the surface, the rain that accumulates in the basins will soak in to the ground long before mosquitoes have a chance to breed. To take rainwater harvesting even further, you can pipe water from your house’s gutters and downspouts into a tank or cistern. There are a variety of ways of doing this. Everything you could possibly want to know about harvesting rainwater in our desert environment can be learned in a new publication called Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands, by Brad Lancaster (available at Tucson Audubon nature shops and online at www.tucsonaudubon.org; more information at www.harvestingrainwater.com). Gray Water: It is legal in Arizona to water your landscape with water from most of the sinks in your house, as well as the bathtub and the washing machine. Before you start, read the rules for gray water use available from the Water Conservation Alliance of Southern Arizona (www.watercasa.org/pubs/pubsindex.htm) or the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (azdeq.gov/environ/water/permits/download/graywater.pdf). Then consult a plumber or, if you are handy, think about how to get water from these sources to your landscape. If you are building a new house, think about building gray water into your plan.

Landowner Guidance 15 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

If you use gray water in your landscape, it is an excellent idea to use biodegradable soaps. A variety of biodegradable soaps are available that won’t hurt the environment. Mulch: Once you have watered your landscape, try to keep as much of that water in the soil. Mulch is a great way to do that. Mulch is insulation, usually organic, that is put on top of soil to reduce evaporation of water. The best mulch is coarse organic matter that allows irrigation or rain to easily pass through it while creating an insulating layer that discourages water from evaporating from the soil. Mulch also helps keep soil temperatures cool which helps plants and the beneficial organisms that live in the soil. The most common kinds of mulch are composted plant material, straw or other products such as bark. Commercial composts are often available at building or landscape supply outlets. Be sure to get mulch that is of a coarser variety. Very fine powdery mulches can harden and form water- repellent surfaces or, if too thick, can soak the water rather than letting it through to the soil below. Bales of straw are available at animal feed stores. Sometimes damaged bales or loose straw can be acquired at a discount, or even free if you are willing to sweep up the loose stuff yourself. Break up pieces of the straw bale and distribute it on the soil around your plants. Mulch is more important in the warm months, because that is when the potential for evaporation is highest. Some garden plants may benefit from removal of mulch in the cold months so that soil temperatures rise. Drip irrigation: Even when you use gray water and harvested rainwater, it is sometimes also necessary to water them with tap water. If you irrigate, drip irrigation is by far the most efficient way of delivering water to your plants. If you spray water on a plant with a hose, it will spread out and sink in over a large area but only to a very shallow depth. Drip irrigation tends to sink in over a smaller area but more deeply—along the entire depth of the root system of your landscape plants.

Figure 18: Setting up drip irrigation system for new plant establishment. Photo credit: Kendall Kroesen.

Landowner Guidance 16 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Drip systems can help your plants make it through the first year of their lives, when they are most likely to die from heat and dryness. It can also help the plants weather extended periods of drought. It is easy to learn to install drip systems, and there are many landscape contractors who can do it for you. If you install a drip system, we suggest that you do not install a timer. Timers will turn on your drip system whether you plants need water or not. Often they do not, particularly during the winter and during the rainy summer “monsoon” season. Keep an eye on your yard. If times seem hard, turn on your drip system. Leave it on for several hours so that water soaks deeply into the soil. But you don’t need to turn it on often. Even in extreme drought conditions, it is usually not necessary to turn on a drip system more than once a week.

The Shape of Your Landscape An efficient way of landscaping is to make the most drastic changes close to your house, and allow nature to take its course a little farther away. This is sometimes called the “zone system.” Anything that takes more water and labor, like a vegetable garden or showy flowers, can be in the zone closest to the house. Plants here are easier to water (perhaps with water from the roof!), it is easier to get to them when you want to pull weeds or cultivate, and it is easier to defend them from hungry rabbits and javelinas! A little farther from the house, consider landscaping with an intermediate zone of native plants— such as those that attract birds or butterflies. You might extend a drip irrigation system into this zone to help young plants and to use during times of drought. Try to plant in basins or swales that trap and infiltrate rainwater. In the zone farthest from the house, just let nature take its course. You might add some more native plant species to this area if it has been degraded in any way. There are birds and other animals that use all kinds of vegetation structure, whether it be the tree canopy, the medium-height vegetation, or the low stuff (“understory”). If you landscape with a diversity of “structures,” as well as a diversity of native plant species, you will be helping a wider variety of creatures. By the same token, try not to prune trees and shrubs excessively, particularly in the natural zone. Some people prune low limbs off mesquites, and other trees and shrubs. This can be a good idea immediately next to your house where you don’t want to encourage packrats or give snakes places to hide. However, try to avoid pruning farther from the house. There are a lot of animals that use low-lying vegetation to rest, hide from predators, find food, and to nest. Quail need lots of ground cover to feel safe, and in which to hide their nests. Curved-billed Thrashers build their nests low in chollas or thorny shrubs. Many other riparian bird species, like Broad-billed Hummingbird and Bell’s Vireo, have declined even in our remaining streamside habitats because people have cleared the low native brush and shrubby trees where they prefer to nest.

In Your Neighborhood

Deed Restrictions for Conservation If you want to assure that a portion of your land is preserved for nature, consider creating a conservation deed restriction, otherwise known as a conservation easement. This is not like a utility or road easement that allows egress across your property, nor does it infer you are granting public access to your property. A conservation easement is a legal real estate agreement regarding management of your privately held land. Essentially, a conservation easement is an agreement to leave the land within the easement to nature, and therefore not to develop the land for human use,

Landowner Guidance 17 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners or degrade its ecological values. The land still belongs to you and your heirs, but typically a conservation organization “manages” the easement— monitoring it to make sure it is being managed in accordance with the agreement. Every conservation easement is a unique contract tailored to the particular property and interests of a landowner. Future owners are bound by this agreement, as it remains attached to the property’s title. An easement can allow specific current land uses to occur in accordance with the goals of the easement. Typically, the goal of a conservation easement is to protect important vegetation and wildlife habitat values of the property. Property owners can obtain monetary (tax) benefits through the deed of a conservation easement. Conservation organizations such as Arizona Open Land Trust and Tucson Audubon can consult with you about how conservation easements work. Pets Both cats and dogs can be hard on wildlife. According to the National Audubon Society, “Scientists estimate that free-roaming cats (owned, stray, and feral) kill hundreds of millions of birds and possibly more than a billion small mammals in the U.S. each year.” The single most useful thing you can do for wildlife may be to keep your cats indoors. At least consider severely limiting their access to wildlife. Bells on collars alone will not make much of a difference. Cats generally live longer and healthier lives when they are kept indoors. If there are feral (wild) cats in your neighborhood, consider getting together with your neighbors to do something about it. Feral cats usually have to get most of their food from their environment, where as your house cat may be less motivated to hunt due to that tasty cat food you give it. Feral cats can be trapped. If you don’t like the idea of handing them over to animal control, there may be other options. In some cases it may be possible to gradually tame them, at least to some extent, and keep them indoors. Another strategy is to have them spayed or neutered, and return them to the wild. They will go on eating birds, but at least they won’t reproduce and continue the cycle. Smaller pets, such as turtles, snakes, fish, crayfish and so on, should never be allowed to escape into the wild. They usually don’t survive long, so it is hard on them. If they do survive, they are likely to compete with native animals. Some become quite destructive. If there are small pets that you don’t want anymore, consult the Humane Society about what to do with them. Trash If you keep trash barrels outside, consider using ones with lids that animals have a hard time getting into. Or keep trash barrels inside the garage where animals can’t get to them. When animals get into your trash, it can encourage them to become inappropriately accustomed to foraging close to your house. If they become a problem, it is more like they that will get hurt. And often when trash gets knocked over, some of it blows away before you can pick it up. It can end up in the floodplain where other more timid animals may get hurt by it. Traffic Remember that vehicles kill a lot of wildlife. Drive carefully in your neighborhood, particularly after dark. Do some people drive recklessly on your streets? Lobby for “traffic calming” devices, like traffic circles at stop signs and “speed humps.” These make people safer, as well as wildlife. New Homes If you are planning a new home near Sabino Creek, consider building into its design as many as possible of the principles discussed above. In addition, you can assure you are building in a way that is sensitive to the environment by complying with “LEED standards.” See more information at the U.S. Green Building Council (www.usgbc.org).

Landowner Guidance 18 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Very importantly, consider whether your building site is in the creek’s floodplain. (This information is available from Pima County Flood Control [Contact them at (520) 243-1800 or http://rfcd.pima.gov.]. If you are within the floodplain, consider very carefully the danger of flooding to your home, and the potential disruption of the floodplain by protective dikes or other structures you might build to protect your home. Wood Cutting If a tree falls in the forest…pretend you didn’t hear it! There are problems both with the removal of dead wood from the environment (where many species make use of it) and with burning it in the fireplace. Fires often don’t heat homes efficiently and they make smoke that contributes to air pollution and asthmatic attacks. Sparks can get out of chimneys and cause range fires. Never Say Never We are not saying that you can’t ever treat yourself to a fire in the fireplace, perhaps on a special occasion. By the same token, a small lawn or the occasional long, hot shower isn’t the end of the world. And it’s okay to prune your vegetation where it is really necessary. It’s more a matter of emphasis. If we apply a little thought and engineering to our homes, our landscapes, and our daily behavior, we can make big strides toward conserving the beauty and rich animal life of Sabino Creek. The ash and cottonwood trees greening in the spring, the dense sprays of elderberries, the desert honeysuckle being visited by hummingbirds, the white-tailed deer walking through the trees—we don’t have to loose those things the way we have lost them along the Rillito, the Santa Cruz River and elsewhere. Talk to Your Neighbors Encourage your neighbors to read this document and to think about how they can make their land friendlier to wildlife.

Figure 19: Touring Sabino Creek by horseback. Photo credit: Scott Wilbor.

Landowner Guidance 19 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

How You Can Benefit Bird Species of Concern

Four avian species that nest in good numbers along the creek that landowners can easily benefit are the Bell’s Vireo, Abert’s Towhee, Broad-billed Hummingbird and Lucy’s Warbler. By promoting the growth of native grasses, shrubs and small trees (understory and mid-story plants) you can increase the nesting and foraging opportunities for Bell’s Vireo and Abert’s Towhee. By promoting flowering forbs that provide good nectar sources, you can benefit the food resources of Broad-billed Hummingbird (as well as Costa’s Hummingbird). By promoting lush mesquite bosques along the creek, with trees large enough to host natural cavities for nesting, you can help Lucy’s Warbler find good foraging and nesting opportunities. Critical for these bosques is that local water tables remain high (< 49 feet) in order to support the larger, more well-developed velvet mesquite, hackberry, and elderberry trees that comprise this forest community.

Figure 20: Lucy’s Warbler. Photo credit: rshantz.com.

The two avian species that may be the most threatened if development pressure increases along the creek are the Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet and the Rufous-winged Sparrow. Northern- Beardless Tyrannulets need a broad riparian forest, with areas of open woodlands where they can forage for riparian-associated insects. Generally, these birds are found using understory vegetation beneath a cottonwood or willow canopy, and nesting on larger tent caterpillar web clusters or mistletoe clumps hanging from the large cottonwood or Goodding’s willow trees. Apparently, these birds are sensitive to frequent human disturbance, and may abandon a site if disturbed too often. Further reductions in riparian forest width and too frequent disturbance are thus the prime threats facing this species. Rufous-winged Sparrows find habitat along Sabino Creek where a grassy understory is present with scattered trees, which can include mesquite, palo verde, acacia, desert hackberry, graythorn, ocotillo and various species of cholla. Key grasses include tobosa grass and false grama. A loss of these creek-side, savannah (presently rare) and desert wash habitats could cause this species to disappear from the drainage. Rufous-winged Sparrows nest close to the ground in cholla, palo verde, mesquite and desert hackberry (<10 feet from the ground), thus making them more vulnerable to ground predators like free roaming cats. Key threats are thus a loss of open savannah habitat patches, particularly on the edge of the more dense riparian forest, the threat of increasing predation by cats or by native predators finding supplemental food near human habitation (e.g., raccoons, opossum).

How You Can Benefit Bird Species of Concern 20 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 21: Open mesquite bosque savannah along Sabino Creek, a favored habitat of Rufous-winged Sparrow. Photo Credit: Kendall Kroesen.

One bird species not found along Sabino Creek that Audubon would like to see re-established is the Yellow-billed Cuckoo. This species undoubtedly did nest along the Sabino Creek, Tanque Verde Creek, Rillito Creek, and Santa Cruz River near Tucson, probably until the middle of the last century. Loss of a high water table from pumping groundwater has eliminated historical habitat along the latter three drainages. But along Sabino Creek, from the lower reaches within the Coronado National Forest to Canyon Ranch, the riparian forest may in the future again support a few pairs of cuckoos with proper management. Particularly, essential to this recovery would be that water table levels remain stable, and even increase in certain reaches where riparian vegetation has become notably sparse. Yellow-billed Cuckoos require densely wooded riparian corridors, with multi-layered mid-story and canopy trees present, notably cottonwood, Goodding’s willow, velvet ash, Arizona walnut, and mesquite. Dense tall canopy mesquite bosques can also provide nesting and foraging habitat for this species. Riparian forests also have to be of sufficient width to provide conditions for cuckoos to find well- hidden interior nest sites, and to allow sufficient habitat to support sufficient food resources for a nesting pair. Cuckoos feed heavily on tent caterpillars and katydids in riparian vegetation. This riparian ecosystem must be shaded enough to promote appropriately humid conditions for optimum caterpillar production, thus providing sufficient prey to support nesting cuckoos. Water table levels will need to be managed so that they are less than 9 feet below surface, with annual fluctuations less than 1.6 feet, in order to support a multi-structured riparian forest. If nesting does occur, promoting limited human disturbance during sensitive nesting periods at nest sites would be required. The return of these birds to Sabino Creek would be a highlight of the summer for many residents. The calls these cuckoos elicit from their hidden habitats are bizarre and the chasing behaviors they perform in the canopy of this ecosystem can be fascinating.

How You Can Benefit Bird Species of Concern 21 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Figure 22: Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet. Figure 23: Rufous-winged Sparrow. Photo credit: rshantz.com. Photo credit: James Prudente.

Figure 24: Yellow-billed Cuckoo. Photo Figure 25: Cottonwood/Willow Yellow-billed Cuckoo habitat credit: J.A. Spendelow/USGS. in southeast Arizona. Photo credit: Tice Supplee.

How You Can Benefit Bird Species of Concern 22 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Conclusion

Sabino Creek is a lush riparian oasis flowing down into the Sonoran desert. It is also a creek that flows into less dense outer suburbs as well as the more densely suburban development of northeast Tucson. As such it faces tremendous challenges now and in the years ahead as concerned citizens of Tucson work to conserve its many values. For centuries wildlife and birds have found the Sabino and Bear Creek drainages to be ideal habitat to forage, nest, den, and reproduce. As other key riparian habitat in the Tucson basin was lost or degraded, the importance of the Sabino and Bear Creeks’ riparian habitat has grown significantly for wildlife and people. People living throughout the Tucson basin love Sabino Creek: its serenity, water, towering cliffs, boulders, spectacular vegetation, and its unique and diverse riparian-associated wildlife. Tucson Audubon Society and its Important Bird Areas Program are committed to conserving all these values. We know that the residents along Sabino Creek are also committed to its conservation and want to continue to enjoy all the opportunities a healthy creek can provide. We hope the information in this manual has provided you with the necessary knowledge, where to get further information, and how to work to enhance, restore, and conserve this habitat and the bird populations of the creek. You may be already doing your part for creek, and we applaud you. Still there will always be vigilance required to address emerging threats. We hope that with increased awareness and greater knowledge you can renew your efforts both in your own home and along the creek to benefit birds and their habitat. Working together we can continue to see cottonwoods, sycamores, ash, and mesquite and hummingbirds, vireos, warblers, and sparrows, all thrive along Sabino Creek well into the future!

Figure 26: Mindful conservation efforts will result in a healthy Sabino Creek. Photo credit: Kendall Kroesen.

Conclusion 23 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Appendix A: Birds Species of Concern of Sabino Creek “Species of Conservation Concern” occurring within Sabino and Bear Creeks IBA (data from 1993 to 2004, various sources). The Arizona IBA Program classifies species as “Species of Conservation Concern” if listed by any of the agencies/organizations presented in this table.

US Federal US IUCN T & E National National USFWS Forest Arizona (International Species National Audubon Audubon Birds of Service Partners Species Union for the (Threatened Partners WatchList WatchList Conservation Sensitive in Flight Conservation and in Flight (Red) (Yellow) Concern1 Species (Priority) of Nature) Endangered (Reg. 3) Species)

Elf Owl X X X (33,34)

Broad-billed X (34) Hummingbird

Costa’s X X X (34) Hummingbird

Gilded X X (33,34) Flicker

Northern Beardless- X (34) Tyrannulet

Purple Martin X

Bell’s Vireo X X X X (33,34) X

Lucy’s X X X Warbler

Abert’s X X Towhee

Rufous- winged X X Sparrow

Brewer’s Sparrow X X X X (winter)

1The North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) has mapped ecologically distinct regions of North America (Bird Conservation Regions, i.e., BCRs). Sabino and Bear Creeks IBA occurs on the border of two BCRs, the Sonoran (BCR 33) and the Sierra Madre Occidental (BCR 34), therefore species listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as Birds of Conservation Concern in either of these BCRs were considered Species of Conservation Concern under Audubon’s IBA Program in Arizona.

Appendix A: Birds Species of Concern of Sabino Creek 24 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Appendix B: Native Plants Useful in Habitat Restoration and Where to Find Them

1. Native Plants Useful in Habitat Restoration and Enhancement

Common Name Latin Name Function Agave Agave chrysantha Nectar-bearing flowers May-June Arizona ash Fraxinus velutina Overstory arthropod forage and nesting Arizona water-willow Justicia candicans Nectar for hummingbirds Brittlebush Encelia farinose Seeds for birds and off-season hummingbird nectar Canyon beard-tongue Penstemon pseudospectabilis Hummingbird nectar Canyon hackberry Celtis reticulate Fruit and arthropod forage Catclaw acacia Acacia greggii Cover and forage for birds Catclaw mimosa Mimosa aculeaticarpa Cover and forage Cholla Opuntia spp. Pollinator forage and food for other animals Chuparosa Justicia californica Nectar for Costa’s Hummingbird Desert hackberry Celtis pallida Cover and edible berries Desert honeysuckle Anisacanthus thurberi Hummingbird nectar Desert lavender Hyptis emoryi Nectar for Costa’s Hummingbird Desert willow Chilopsis linearis Nectar for hummingbirds Fairy duster Calliandra eriophylla Off-season hummingbird nectar source Foothills paloverde Parkinsonia microphylla Replicates typical Costa’s Hummingbird habitat Four-wing saltbush Atriplex canescens Cover and edible seeds Abert’s Towhee and others Fremont cottonwood Populus fremontii Yellow Warbler habitat Goodding’s willow Salix gooddingii Yellow Warbler habitat Graythorn Ziziphus obtusifolia Cover and edible berries for birds Jojoba Simmondsia chinensis Replicates typical Costa’s Hummingbird habitat Milkweed Asclepias spp. Visited by Broad-billed Hummingbirds New Mexico thistle Cirsium neomexicanum Seed and nectar forage Ocotillo Fouqueria spendens Nectar preference for Costa’s Hummingbird Parry penstemon Penstemon parryi Hummingbird nectar Quailbush Atriplex lentiformis Cover for birds like Abert’s Towhee Sage Salvia spp. Nectar for hummingbirds Saguaro Cereus giganteus Costa’s Hummingbird forage Wolfberry Lycium spp. Cover and edible berries Wright’s bee bush Aloysia wrightii Attracts arthropod bird prey

Appendix B: Native Plants Useful in Habitat Restoration and Where to Find Them 25 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

2. Sources of Native Plants and Seed Catalina Heights Nursery 6074 E. Pima Tucson, AZ 85712 (520) 298-2822 Some native plants available Civano Nursery Garden Center 5301 S. Houghton Road Tucson, AZ (520) 546-9200 Desert Survivors Nursery 1020 W. Star Pass Tucson, AZ (520) 791-9309 Mesquite Valley Growers Nursery 8005 E. Speedway Blvd. Tucson, AZ 85710 (520) 721-8600 Tohono Chul Park 7366 N. Paseo del Norte Tucson, AZ 85704 (520) 742-6455 www.tohonochulpark.org Nursery; Spring and Fall plant sales Tucson Botanical Gardens Nursery 2150 N. Alvernon Way Tucson, AZ 85712 (520) 326-9686, ext. 27 www.tucsonbotanical.org Nursery (Oct. to May); Spring and Fall plant sales Wildlands Restoration 2944 N. Castro Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705 (520) 882-0969 [email protected] Wholesale and retail source of native seed

Appendix B: Native Plants Useful in Habitat Restoration and Where to Find Them 26 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Appendix C: Scientific Names of Species Mentioned in this Document

Plants Common Name Scientific Name African Sumac Rhus lancea Arizona Sycamore Platanus wrightii Arizona Walnut Juglans major Arundo (Giant Reed) Arundo donax Bermuda Grass Cynodon dactylon Blue Paloverde Parkinsonia florida Buttonbush Cephalanthus occidentalis Catclaw Acacia Acacia greggii Desert Christmas Cactus Opuntia leptocaulis Desert Cotton Gossypium thurberi Desert Hackberry Celtis pallida Desert Honeysuckle Anisacanthus thurberi False Grama Cathestecum erectum Foothill Paloverde Parkinsonia microphylla Fremont Cottonwood Populus fremontii Goodding’s Willow Salix gooddingii Graythorn Ziziphus obtusifolia var. canescens Johnson Grass Sorghum halepense Lehmann Lovegrass Eragrostis lehmanniana Mexican Elderberry Sambucus nigra ssp. canadensis Mexican Paloverde Parkinsonia aculeata Net-leaf Hackberry Celtis laevigata var. reticulata Ocotillo Fouquieria splendens Red Brome Bromus rubens Staghorn Cholla Opuntia versicolor Tobosa Grass Pleuraphis mutica Velvet Ash Fraxinus velutina Velvet Mesquite Prosopis velutina White-ball Acacia Acacia angustissima White-thorn Acacia Acacia constricta

Birds Common Name Scientific Name Abert’s Towhee Pipilo aberti Bell’s Vireo Vireo bellii Belted Kingfisher Ceryle alcyon Brewer’s Sparrow Spizella breweri Broad-billed Hummingbird Cynanthus latirostris Bullock’s Oriole Icterus bullockii Costa’s Hummingbird Calypte costae Curve-billed Thrasher Toxostoma curvirostre Elf Owl Micrathene whitneyi Gilded Flicker Colaptes chrysoides Lazuli Bunting Passerina amoena Lucy’s Warbler Vermivora luciae

Appendix C: Scientific Names of Species Mentioned in this Document 27 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Common Name Scientific Name Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet Camptostoma imberbe Purple Martin Progne subis Ruby-crowned Kinglet Regulus calendula Rufous-winged Sparrow Aimophila carpalis Wilson’s Warbler Wilsonia pusilla Yellow-billed Cuckoo Coccyzus americanus

Fish Common Name Scientific Name Gila Chub Gila intermedia Gila Topminnow Poeciliopsis occidentalis Green Sunfish Lepomis cyanellus Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis

Mammals Common Name Scientific Name Big Brown Bat Eptesicus fuscus Bobcat Lynx rufus Brazilian (Mexican) free-tailed Bat Tadarida brasiliensis Coati Nasua nasua Coyote Canis latrans Desert Cottontail Sylvilagus audubonii Javelina/Collared Peccary Tayassu tajacu Lesser Long-nosed Bat Leptonycteris curasoae Mountain Lion Felis concolor Pack Rats Neotoma albigula Pallid Bat Antrozous pallidas Pocketed Free-tailed Bat Nyctinomops femorosaccus Raccoon Procyon lotor Virginia Opossum Didelphis virginiana Western Pipistrelle Pipistrellus Hesperus White-tailed Deer Odocoileus virginianus Yuma Myotis Myotis yumanesnesis

Reptiles Common Name Scientific Name Sonoran Mud Turtle Kinosternon sonoriense Western Diamondback Rattlesnake Crotalus atrox

Amphibians Common Name Scientific Name Bullfrog Rana catesbeiana

Invertebrates Common Name Scientific Name Crayfish Orconectes virilis Katydids Family Tettigoniidae Tent Caterpillar Malacosoma americana

Appendix C: Scientific Names of Species Mentioned in this Document 28 Sabino Creek Important Bird Area: A Habitat Guide for Landowners

Bibliography

Arizona Game and Fish Department, 1999. Landscaping for Desert Wildlife (2nd Edition). Phoenix: Arizona Game and Fish Department. [Good primer for Tucson homeowners, though it focuses on upland desert plants rather than riparian ones. Available free from the Arizona Game and Fish Department office at 555 N. Greasewood Rd. in Tucson.] Arizona Native Plant Society and Tucson Audubon Society, 1997. Desert Bird Gardening. Tucson: Arizona Native Plant Society and Tucson Audubon Society. [Small booklet available in Tucson Audubon Nature Shops.] Briggs, Mark, 1996. Riparian Ecosystem Recovery in Arid Lands: Strategies and References. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. [Technical guide to riparian habitat restoration.] Chambers, Nina and Trica Oshant Hawkins, 2005. Invasive Plants of the Sonoran Desert. Tucson: Sonoran Institute, Environmental Education Exchange, and National Fish and Wildlife Service. [Good introduction (in both English and Spanish) to invasive, non-native plants in our area. Available from the Sonoran Institute by calling them at 290-0828 or going by their office at 7650 E. Broadway, Suite 203 in Tucson.] Epple, Anne O., 1995. A Field Guide to the Plants of Arizona. Helena, Montana: Falcon. [A general guide to native plants of Arizona.] Lancaster, Brad, 2005. Rainwater harvesting for Drylands. Rainsource Press/Chelsea Green. [Comprehensive guide to harvesting rainwater.] Lazaroff, David W., 1993. Sabino Canyon: The Life of a Southwestern Oasis. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. [Introdution to geology, history and biology of Sabino Canyon.] Lazaroff, David W., Philip C. Rosen, Charles H. Lowe Jr., 2006. Amphibians, Reptiles, and Their Habitats at Sabino Canyon. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. [Information about the “herpetofauna” of Sabino Canyon.] Mollison, Bill and Slay Reney-Mia, 1991. Introduction to Permaculture. Permaculture Resources. [A good introduction to a comprehensive approach to human dwellings and landscaping that is in harmony with the natural world.]

Bibliography 29