Take a Walk on the Wild Side of Tonto National Forest

As I sit in one of the homes that once belonged to a Salado family 700 years ago, I wait and listen for the canyon wren to arrive and sing his noon time song. Every day since I began staffing the lower cliff dwelling this little brown bird with the white breast has sat in the same spot at noon and echoes his sweet song throughout the cave. I’m not sure why he repeats this daily ritual but somehow I think he enjoys the echo created by the caves natural amphitheater.

The canyon wren is just one among many unique songbirds that inhabits Tonto National Forest in Roosevelt, Arizona. Since time immemorbale, this lush green desert scrubland has cradled high amounts of biodiversity, thanks to the convergence of an ecotone (two different environments overlapping with one another). According to the US Geological Survey there have been 26 recorded species of mammals, 32 species of reptiles, 165 species of birds, and 6 recorded species of amphibians in Tonto National Forest. Some of the more unique wildlife species that inhabit this region of the southwestern united states include mountains lions, road runners, Gila monsters, and of course rattlesnakes.

Most desert wildlife has adapted to being active during the evenings when temperatures are cool and moisture is released from the flora. During the day, temperatures spike to a maximum of 110°F dissuading most animals from emerging out of the comfort of their cool caves and burrows.  Like the ancient Salado culture who once called the Tonto Basin their home, the wildlife has made use of their desert surroundings as well as developed creative strategies for surviving in hot and dry environments where water is scarce.

Compared to most deserts, though, Tonto National forest is surprisingly green. In the trunks of the majestic Saguaro, one can spot cavities hollowed out by the Gila woodpecker where cactus wrens and elf owls have made their homes. During the spring the cacti are scoured by a variety of colorful hummingbirds who come to sip the nectar from there flowers and in summer are scavenged upon by species of birds and bats alike who can reach the fruits atop the crested crowns of these green giants.

Sources:

Doyel, D.E. “A Cultural and Ecological Model for the Tonto Basin” Cultural and Ecological Aspects of Salado Prehistory. A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of Anthropology at California State University. Chico, CA. (Fall, 1972).

Nabhan, G.P. “Biodiversity: The Variety of Life that Sustains our own” A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert. Edited by Phillips, S.J. & Wentworth-Comus, P.  Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum Press. Tucson, AZ (2000). © Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum (2000).  

Albrecht E.W, Powell B.F, Halvorson W.L, Schmidt, C.A. Vascular Plant and Vertebrae Inventory of Tonto National Monument. US Geological Survey. Reston, VA (2007).