Microscopic View of a Desert Cardinal Feather
November 9, 2020 We have two lovely cardinal species that reside in the Sky Island region, the Northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) and Pyrrhuloxia (Cadinalis sinuatus), also known as the desert cardinal. Pyrrhuloxia has a prominent crest on its head,…
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Microscopic View of a Cholla Fruit
November 1, 2020When you zoom in closer and closer to living things you encounter in the Sky Island region, it’s amazing what you find! I was recently drawn to look more closely…
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Protecting Half of the Earth for Other Species
October 21, 2020While the global pandemic was dramatically changing all our lives in March this year, the human population reached 7.8 billion people on Earth. It’s a staggering number and testament to…
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New Sky Islands Borderlands Field Program
September 4, 2020We’re joining forces with Round River Conservation Studies to launch a new undergraduate field course in February 2021! Students who join this inaugural Sky Islands Borderland Field cohort will spend three months immersed in the mountainous grasslands…
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Wall Construction at the San Pedro River
September 2, 2020In July 2020, construction of a 30-foot steel border wall began across the last free-flowing river in Arizona. Despite monsoon floods that push water 140 miles from the San Pedro River’s headwaters in Mexico northwards to its convergence with the…
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Where to Mount a Backyard Wildlife Camera
August 17, 2020Choosing a location for a wildlife camera in your backyard is a really fun process but may require some trial and error to get just the right perspective of animals on the move around your home….
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Finding the Right Backyard Wildlife Camera for You
August 11, 2020A well-placed wildlife camera in your backyard can reveal the exciting candid wildlife moments around your home that you may never see with your own two eyes. Many mammals are active at night and I love drifting off…
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Explore our Springs Map to Understand Conservation Need
July 28, 2020Our Sky Island region is estimated to have 10,000 springs—places where groundwater comes to the surface and provide vital water for plants, wildlife, and people. That is a huge number of water sources to track…
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90 Days and 71 Species at the Border
July 24, 2020Sky Island Alliance staff and volunteers deployed trail cameras along 34 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border in early March 2020. Our mission was to document the wildlife community living in…
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Friday Flora Feature: Bear Grass
July 10, 2020I fell in love with bear grass in the gorgeous grasslands of the San Rafael Valley, where our Border Wildlife Study cameras were set up this spring. Bear grass punctuates the Southwest landscape at elevations between 2,700 and 6,500 feet as rosettes up…
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