Cactus wren, image from Wikimedia
The cactus wren is found in the Mojave, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts; it is found in southern California, Nevada, Arizona, and deep into Mexico. The bird is easily observed flitting about the desert in search of insects, and its nests may be found in various large cacti including chollas (Cylindropuntia), saguaro (in holes), and some other columnar or barrel cacti. Sometimes the bird will nest in yucca plants.
Males and females resemble each other, and both search for ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and bees, etc, though they might eat a bit of fruit now and then or seeds. The birds are remarkably efficient at extracting water from their food, and they seldom need to drink.
I’ve seen this bird throughout the Mojave desert, but irregularly so. The nests are hard to miss, typically a scramble of twigs (with a roof and tunnel entry) in a large cholla or perhaps a Joshua tree. The white eye stripe and the black breast spots are useful for identification; there is no other bird like it.
Cactus wren nest in Opuntia acanthodes, Kingman, AZ
Posted by: Joe Shaw shawjoej@gmail.com
