BIOL X404 - Birds of Joshua Tree National Park

Course Description

You will learn to identify some of the 230 individual species that have been found in Joshua Tree National Park, and to separate the summer and winter residents from the true migrants. Nesting habits, feeding habits, interrelationships with plant life, and other adaptive strategies are discussed. You will hike a total of approximately four miles during the Saturday and Sunday field trips.

Scheduled at the peak of spring migration, you will have the opportunity to view and identify:

• Black-throated Gray Warbler
• Orange-crowned Warbler
• Yellow Warbler
• Wilson's Warbler
• MacGillivray's Warbler
• Black-headed Grosbeak
• Western Tanager
• Various Empidonax flycatchers

Some of the summer residents that nest in the area:

• Scott's Oriole
• Western Kingbird
• Ash-throated Flycatcher
• Bendires Thrasher

Year-round residents include:

• LeConte's Thrasher
• Black-throated Sparrow
• Cactus Wren
• Greater Roadrunner
• Phainopepla
• Verdin