Arizona State Bird

Arizona state bird: Cactus Wren Toxostomarufum

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Arizona State Bird Description:

Size: 7 to 9 inches (18-22 cm)
Weight: 1.13 to 1.66 ounces (32-47 g)

The color of both sexes is the same; the upperparts arebrownish with scattered white streaks, the belly and breast aretawny-colored and heavily spotted. The crown is rust-colored and thereis a long white eyestripe above each eye. The wings and tailare barred black and white and a white tail band is visible in flight.

Habitat:

The Cactus Wren can be found in desert areas with taller cacti(especially cholla), or arid hillsides and valleys with other thornyplants capable of supporting their bulky nests.

Range:

Ranges from southern California, southern Nevada, southwest Utah,central New Mexico, and central and southern Texas to central Mexico.Year-round resident in southern, western, and central Arizona indeserts with thorny vegetation.

Diet:

The Cactus Wren feeds on insects and spiders, some types of fruit andrarely reptiles and amphibians. It often forages for food byoverturning moveable objects on the ground with its large curved bill, capturingcreatures hiding underneath.

Nesting:

The Cactus Wren's nest is built in a cactus or thorn tree,usually surrounded by thorns. It is a large, conspicuous, sphericalstructure usually built with dry grasses and annual plants and evenstrips of discarded paper and cloth. A long, narrow-sided passage intoan internal chamber, as well as the thorny substrate, protects thisnest from most predators. As with most wren nests, the nest chamber isusually lined with feathers. Both the male and female build the nest.

The clutch will contain 2 to 7 eggs and incubation takesabout 16 days.

A Few Things You Probably Didn't Know About the Arizona StateBird:

The Cactus Wren is the largest wrenin the United States.
The Cactus Wren is abundant below 4,000 feetin Arizona, but has been found in elevations up to 6,000 feetin New Mexico.
The Cactus Wren destroys the nests ofother bird species, pecking or removing their eggs.

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