Field Notes
Best Things About Bats
April 17, 2020Today is Bat Appreciation Day and these are my favorite Sky Island bat facts: What Sky Island Bats Eat Most bats are insectivorous, meaning they only eat insects like moths, flies, and mosquitos. However, there are some species of bats that only eat nectar from flowers. Those bats are called nectivores and their mouth and tongue are so adapted to eating only nectar that their teeth are tiny! Bats Help Cactus and Agave Both insectivorous and nectivorous bats play an…
Read more »
Lecturas de Criaturas – Halconcito colorado
April 10, 2020 Después de unas pocas semanas, las cámaras trampa de nuestro Estudio de Fauna Fronteriza detectaron 27 especies diferentes de vida silvestre en estos increíbles paisajes fronterizos. Algunas de esas especies fueron fotografiadas varias veces, como es el caso de los halconcitos colorados. Entonces, pensamos que compartiríamos algunos datos interesantes sobre estas magníficas aves: Son el…
Read more »
Friday Creature Feature : American Kestrel
After just a few weeks, wildlife cameras in our Border Wildlife Study detected 27 different species of wildlife in these incredible borderlands. Some of those species were photographed multiple times, as is the case of the American Kestrels! So, we thought we’d share some interesting facts about these magnificent birds: American kestrels (Falco sparverius) are the smallest bird of prey in North America. They are widespread throughout the Americas, ranging from Alaska to the…
Read more »
10 datos interesantes – Sierra Patagonia y Sierra Huachuca
April 9, 2020Nuestro Estudio de Fauna Fronteriza mide la diversidad de la vida silvestre a lo largo de 54 kilómetros montañosos de la frontera de los Estados Unidos con México en el sur de Arizona. El conjunto de cámaras abarca las faldas de las sierras Patagonia y Huachuca en los Estados Unidos, ¡dos fascinantes cadenas montañosas binacionales de la región de las Islas del Cielo! Aquí están nuestros datos favoritos sobre ellas: Tanto la Sierra Patagonia como la…
Read more »
10 Fun Mountain Facts
Our Border Wildlife Study is measuring wildlife diversity along 34 mountainous miles of the U.S. border with Mexico in southern Arizona. The camera array spans the foothills of the Patagonia and Huachuca Mountains—two fascinating binational Sky Island mountain ranges! Here are our favorite facts about them: Both the Patagonia and Huachuca Mountain ranges are Sky Islands, meaning they are mountains surrounded by lower elevation deserts. The…
Read more »
La ciencia detrás de nuestro nuevo Estudio de Fauna Fronteriza
April 1, 2020Con el muro fronterizo en construcción en el sur de Arizona, es una carrera contra el tiempo documentar la comunidad de fauna silvestre que vive en tramos sin muros de la frontera internacional hoy. Diseñamos un estudio para documentar minuciosamente qué especies de fauna silvestre migran y viven permanentemente en la zona fronteriza que cruza…
Read more »
The Science Behind our new Border Wildlife Study
With border wall actively under construction in Southern Arizona, it’s a race against time to document the wildlife community living in unwalled stretches of the international border today. We designed a study to thoroughly document which wildlife species are migrating through and residing permanently in the border zone transecting the Patagonia and Huachuca Mountain foothills….
Read more »
Arizona Gives Day is the time to stand up for wildlife
March 26, 2020All of us here at Sky Island Alliance already miss you! You power our conservation work with your hard work and your donations. The last week continued to bring rapid change to our lives. I hope this message finds you well, adapting as you can, and that you’ve been able to enjoy some smells and…
Read more »
New Border Wall Waivers Signal Imminent Construction Across Sky Islands
March 24, 2020 As we gather in our homes to protect our community from COVID-19, the federal government is accelerating environmental destruction on our southern border. Last week, Custom and Border Patrol officials announced plans to construct an additional 74 miles of border wall in Arizona through the heart of the Sky Island region. These new walls…
Read more »
Sheltering in our Place
March 19, 2020I was planning to share an update with you today about our Wildlife at the Wall campaign to protect wildlife in the Sky Island borderlands. I still want to share updates with you, but as I’ve prepared this message the world around us has transformed. And, I’ve been thinking of you and your dedication to…
Read more »