1. What is a saguaro?
The saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) is one of the defining plants of the Sonoran Desert.
These plants are large, tree-like columnar cacti that develop branches (or arms) as they age, although some never grow arms. These arms generally bend upward and can number over 25.
Saguaros are covered with protective spines, white flowers in the late spring, and red fruit in summer.
You find this cactus in southern Arizona and western Sonora, Mexico. At the northern portion of their range they are more plentiful on the warmer south facing slopes. A few stray plants can also be found in southeast California.
The saguaro is not currently listed as threatened or endangered. Arizona has strict regulations about the harvesting, collection or destruction of this species.
With the right growing conditions, it is estimated that saguaros can live to be as much as years old.
Saguaro are very slow growing cactus. A 10 year old plant might only be 1.5 inches tall. Saguaro can grow to be between feet tall (12-18m).
When rain is plentiful and the saguaro is fully hydrated it can weigh between pounds.
The saguaro is the largest cactus in the United States.
Most of the saguaros roots are only 4-6 inches deep and radiate out as far from the plant as it is tall. There is one deep root, or tap root that extends down into the ground more than 2 feet.
After the saguaro dies its woody ribs can be used to build roofs, fences, and parts of furniture. The holes that birds nested in or "saguaro boots" can be found among the dead saguaros. Native Americans used these as water containers long before the canteen was available.
Unfortunately, the stored liquid found in the Saguaro’s is extremely toxic to most mammals. 

2. What is a cereus cactus?
night-blooming cereus, also called moonlight cactus, (genus Selenicereus), any member of a group of about 20 species of cacti in the family Cactaceae. The plants are native to tropical and subtropical America, including the West Indies. They are widely grown in suitable climates in Central and South America and have escaped from cultivation. The genus is known for its large, usually fragrant, night-blooming white flowers, which are among the largest in the cactus family.

3. What is a prickly pear cactus?
Prickly pear cactus represent about a dozen species of the Opuntia genus (Family Cactaceae) in the North American deserts. All have flat, fleshy pads that look like large leaves. The pads are actually modified branches or stems that serve several functions -- water storage, photosynthesis and flower production. Chollas are also members of the Opuntia genus but have cylindrical, jointed stems rather than flat pads.
Like other cactus, most prickly pears and chollas have large spines -- actually modified leaves -- growing from tubercles -- small, wart-like projections -- on their stems. But members of the Opuntia genus are unique because of their clusters of fine, tiny, barbed spines called glochids. Found just above the cluster of regular spines, glochids are yellow or red in color and detach easily from the pads. Glochids are often difficult to see and more difficult to remove, once lodged in the skin.

4. What is an ocotillo?
- during drought it sheds its leaves to conserve moisture - after spring/summer rains it responds by leafing out, sometimes up to six or more times in a year - clusters of tubular flowers are 1 inch long - within 48 hours of a rain, will sprout leaves - Stems covered with a thick water resistant cuticle -most abundant on stony slopes above 3,300 ft on the upper edges of the deserts and adjacent hills.

5. What is a Mexican lime cactus?
Ferocactus is a genus of large barrel-shaped cacti, mostly with large spines and small flowers. Ferocactus typically grow in areas where water flows irregularly or depressions where water can accumulate for short periods of time. They are most often found growing along arroyos (washes) where their seeds have been subjected to scarfication due to water movement, but they oddly also tend to grow along ridges in spots where depressions have formed and can hold water for some period of time.
The "fishhook" spines and the armored web of spines enclosing the cactus body in many species of this genus is an adaptation which allows the plant to move to more favorable locations.

6. What is a palo verde tree?
Palo verde means "green stick" in Spanish; all parts of the these woody legumes are green: their trunks, branches and leaves. These large shrubs or small trees offer spectacular displays of yellow blossoms.
Palo verdes have smooth, greenish bark that contains chlorophyll and conducts photosynthesis. Palo verdes are branch deciduous; they shed some of their branches during severe drought. Their deep root systems can store water during drought. They have small leaves, about 1 inch long; this small size prevents the loss of water through transpiration and evaporation from leaf pores. When rainfall returns, new branches and leaves will grow back. They flower in the late spring if there is rainfall.
Palo verde trees are the dominant species of upland areas of the Sonoran Desert. They grow on alluvial outwash plains and mountain slopes at altitudes from 1,000 to 4,000 feet. They are a favorite shelter of hummingbirds, doves and other desert birds and animals.
Native Americans and indigenous people of northern Mexico have ground the seeds to make a flour. They have made a red dye from the flowers and necklaces from the seeds. They used the wood for fires and cooking.
The canopy of palo verde trees often protect young saguaro cacti, the large, branching cacti of the Sonoran Desert, shading them in the summer and helping keep them warm in the winter. The slow-growing saguaro cacti eventually replace the palo verde trees that sheltered them.

7. What is a mesquite tree?
Honey mesquite leaves are compound, bearing 12 to 20 pairs of flat, oblong, green leaflets, each less than 2 inches long, on either side of a long leaf stem. The flowers are yellow and not particularly showy. The tree blooms in the spring and summer. The fruit forms as a long, flat yellowish brown pod holding many bean-like seeds that are flattened, hard and dark brown. The bark is relatively rough and gray in color. The branches often have long, sharp thorns.
The plant grows to about 35 feet high and just as wide. Its shape is roughly rounded and spreading with an open density and fine texture. When young, the tree can look a bit straggly and irregularly shaped, while more mature trees tend to have more form. The branched of the plant tend to be crooked and droop toward the ground.
This tree is sometimes grown as a specimen plant in the landscape. The mesquite wood is often used as fuel or as charcoal for cooking. Native Americans of the southwestern United States sometimes gather the seeds as a food source. As the name of the tree implies, honey mesquite blossoms are very fragrant and an excellent source of nectar and pollen for honey bees.

8. What is an agave?
Chiefly Mexican, agaves occur also in the southern and western United States and in central and tropical South America. They are succulents with a large rosette of thick fleshy leaves, each ending generally in a sharp point and with a spiny margin; the stout stem is usually short, the leaves apparently springing from the root.
Grows slowly to flower only once. During flowering, a tall stem or "mast" grows from the center of the leaf rosette and bears a large number of shortly tubular flowers. After development of fruit, the original plant dies, but suckers are frequently produced from the base of the stem, which become new plants.
Agave species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera (butterfly and moth)

9. What is a red yucca plant?
                               
Too much water = white and stringy

10. What is a cactus bug?

11. What is a bee?
Honey bees' wings beat 11,400 times per minute. Bees' flight speed averages only 15 miles per hour. Bees possess five eyes. Honeybees can perceive movements that are separated by 1/300th of a second. Humans can only sense movements separated by 1/50th of a second. Were a bee to enter a cinema, it would be able to differentiate each individual movie frame being projected. Bees cannot recognize the color red. Honeybees' stingers have a barb which anchors the stinger in the victim's body. The bee leaves its stinger and venom pouch behind and soon dies from abdominal rupture. Africanized Honey Bees (killer bees) will pursue an enemy 1/4 mile or more. Honeybees communicate with one another by "dancing" so as to give the direction and distance of flowers. A single hive contains approximately 40-45,000 bees.

12. What is a praying mantis?
Praying Mantis a master of disguise is carnivorous insect with a very colorful appetite.
They can turn their triangular heads up to 180 degrees in search for an insect.
An interesting praying mantis fact is that, while they are mating, the female praying mantis eats the males head. No one knows for sure why, but it could be that protein from male body helps the eggs develop. When little mantis hatch they look like their parents tiny replicas. Praying mantis have excellent eye sight and they can see up to 18 meters (60 feet) away.
They are not dangerous creatures (well at least not to the humans) and their average lifespan is around 12 months.
They look like they are praying because they are resting their spiky forelegs.

13. What is an ant? Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight.
An ant brain has about brain cells. A human brain has 10,000 million so a colony of 40,000 ants has collectively the same size brain as a human.
The average life expectancy of an ant is days.
Ants use their antenae not only for touch, but also for their sense of smell.
The head of the ant has a pair of large, strong jaws. The jaws open and shut sideways like a pair of scissors. Adult ants cannot chew and swallow solid food. Instead they swallow the juice which they squeeze from pieces of food. They throw away the dry part that is left over.
The ant has two eyes, each eye is made of many smaller eyes. There are over known species of ants. Each ant colony has at least one or more queens.
The job of the queen is to lay eggs which the worker ants look after. Worker ants are sterile, they look for food, look after the young, and defend the nest from unwanted visitors. Ants are clean and tidy insects. Some worker ants are given the job of taking the rubbish from the nest and putting it outside in a special rubbish dump!
Each colony of ants has its own smell. In this way, intruders can be recognized immediately. Many ants such as the common Red species have a sting which they use to defend their nest.
Some birds put ants in their feathers because the ants squirt formic acid which gets rid of the parasites.
The Slave-Maker Ant (Polyergus Rufescens) raids the nests of other ants and steals their pupae. When these new ants hatch,they work as slaves within the colony. The worker ants keep the eggs and larvae in different groups according to ages.
At night the worker ants move the eggs and larvae deep into the nest to protect them from the cold. During the daytime, the worker ants move the eggs and larvae of the colony to the top of the nest so that they can be warmer.
If a worker ant has found a good source for food, it leaves a trail of scent so that the other ants in the colony can find the food. Army Ants are nomadic and they are always moving. They carry their larvae and their eggs with them in a long column.

14. What is a spider?
Some spiders are as huge as a dinner plate. Spiders have been sent into space.
Fun Facts About Spiders
Basic Spider Facts and Information
1. There are nearly 40,000 species of spiders world-wide and about 3,800 in
the US.
2. Spiders rarely bite people and only do so as a means of defense.
3. Spiders range in size from small enough to balance comfortably on the tip
of a pencil to almost 14 inches in diameter.
4. The average person will encounter some 50 different kinds of spiders in
their lifetime. Of those, only about a dozen are capable of piercing the
skin with their fangs. S
pider Silk
5. Spider silk is the strongest natural fiber known. It’s exuded as a liquid
and hardens when the spider pulls it, thus aligning the molecular
structure. It will stretch up to 1/3 of its original length without breaking.
6. Scientists are researching spider silk as a possible replacement for Kevlar,
the material used in bulletproof vests.
7. It has been theorized that a spider web with strands the thickness of a
pencil could stop a 747 in flight.
8. Spiders are the only creatures that can produce silk essentially from the
time they emerge from the egg sac until the day they die.
9. Black widow silk was at one time used in military gun sights because of its
strength and uniform thickness.
10. Bridge builders have been known to study spider webs because of the
webs’ remarkable ability to absorb tension.
pider Venom
11. Virtually all spiders are venomous but only a few are what we refer to as
“medically important.”
12. Components of spider venom show promise in medical research, including
areas of Alzheimer’s and Lou Gehring’s disease and even in preventing
permanent brain damage in stroke victims.
13. There is no correlation between the size of the spider and the degree of
venom potency.
trange But True…
14. Little Miss Muffet was a real person. Her name was Patience Muffet and
she was the daughter of Thomas Muffet - a late 16th and early 17th
century entomologist. His book "Insectorum Theatrum" contained the first
illustration of an insect, collected in North America on Sir Walter Raleigh's
second voyage. Muffet had a particular penchant for spiders and tolerated
and even promoted them in his home. As was common at that time, he
believed that spiders possessed medicinal qualities and that consuming
them could cure a variety of ailments. Consequently, whenever poor
Patience was ill, her father would mash spiders and spoon feed her the
pulp. No wonder she was afraid of them!
15. The simple act of a spider spinning a web in the mouth of a cave has been
credited with saving the lives of the primary figures in three major world
religions: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. In many countries, there are
tales of a hero or special individual who escaped his pursuers because a
spider had built a web across the entrance to his hiding place. For
example, David doubted God's wisdom in having created such a useless
creature that does nothing but spin a web and has no value. Yet when he
was pursued by Saul and took refuge in a cave, God sent a spider to
weave its web across the mouth of the cave. Saul and his men did not
enter the cave because they felt that no one could have entered without
disturbing the web. Similar tales are told of Mohammed when he fled
Mecca to escape from the Coreishites and of Jesus being hidden in a
cave to escape Herrod's men who searched for him.
16. Aristotle advocated swallowing a spider every day as a means of staying
healthy.
17. Contrary to popular belief, the female Black Widow spider seldom devours
the male after mating.
18. Spiderlings (young spiders) can travel great distancing by “ballooning” -
the process of floating on the breeze using a strand of silk.

15. What is a wedge-tail Grackle?
Males are iridescent black and females are brown
Eats snails, insects, frogs, shrimp, small fish and birds, eggs and young of other birds, fruits, berries, seeds and grains.
The Great-tailed Grackle has been expanding its range in North America throughout the last century.
It took advantage of urbanization and irrigation to move northward from Mexico into much of western United States.
Grackles actually walk instead of hop.

16. What is a house sparrow?
The House Sparrow is also known as the English Sparrow. This is to distinguish it from the native sparrows that can be found in North America. Obviously, the House Sparrow can trace its origins back to Great Britain, hence its name. The House Sparrow first came to North America in 1851, when it was introduced to Brooklyn, New York. From there, the House Sparrow population quickly spread to the Rocky Mountains and on to the West Coast, mainly due to introductions in San Francisco, California and Salt Lake City, Utah. House Sparrows have adapted very quickly to their new home. As such, their population has grown to almost unmanageable heights. This has resulted in the elbowing out of other bird species. In fact, a term has been coined to denote this occurrence. House Sparrow Invasion is considered to be a serious thing in some areas. However, the House Sparrow has been in North America for so long that even though it is not native to the area, it has experienced some changes in physical appearance. Just like the native birds, the northern House Sparrows are longer than the ones in the south

17. What is a starling? They are from Europe
Both males and females can mimic human speech.
Some people keep starlings as pets.
A starling couple can build a nest in 1-3 days. Both sexes incubate.
A migrating flock can number 100,000 birds. They roost communally in flocks that may contain as many as a million birds.
Starlings have an unusual bill that springs open to grip prey or pry plants apart.
Starlings only molt once a year (after breeding) but the spots that show up in the winter wear off by the spring, making them look glossy black.
In Starlings, the length of the intestinal tract actually varies depending on the season. It is shorter in the summertime (when birds are mainly eating protein-rich) insect foods and larger in wintertime when they are mainly eating seeds, which are rich in carboyhydrates. (Source: Analysis of Vetebrate Structure, Hildebrand and Goslow)

18. What is a Woodpecker?
A straight, chisel-like bill is used to excavate holes in trees for nesting and roosting.  It is also used for foraging insects, insect eggs and larva.
A pair of stiff, centrally located tail feathers allow the bird to "tripod" itself on trees.  This facilitates a solid "platform" from which the woodpecker can strike the tree with its beak.  These important feathers are not molted until their replacements have fully grown in.
Bristle-like feathers over their nostrils help to keep wood particles from being inhaled.
Very long tongues allow the birds to "worm" their way in to hard to reach places.  There are hard, saliva coated bristles on the end of the tongue.  These aid in grabbing the prey.  The tongue can also be used for lapping sap.

19. What is a mockingbird?
The common mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is a superb songbird and mimic.
Its own song has a pleasant lilting sound and is, at times, both varied and repetitive.
Often, the mockingbird sings all night long, especially under bright springtime moonlight.
Mockingbirds are usually about ten inches in length, with a fifteen-inch wingspan, grayish upper portions, white undersides, and white patches on the tail and wings. The female has slightly less whiteness in its feathers than the male.
The mockingbird is helpful to humans because it usually feeds on insects and weed seeds. In the summer and fall, it also eats ripe berries.
The nest is a joint project of the male and female mockingbird
Babies a favorite meal of the roadrunner
17 varieties
6 states have it as state bird surpassed only by cardinal with 7

20. What is a Anna's hummingbird?
The bright radiant color on hummingbirds comes from iridescent coloring like on a soap bubble or prism.
A hummingbird's brain is 4.2% of its body weight, the largest proportion in the bird kingdom.
Hummingbirds are very smart and they can remember every flower they have been to, and how long it will take a flower to refill.
Hummingbirds can hear better than humans
Hummingbirds can see farther than humans.
Hummingbirds can see ultraviolet light.
Hummingbirds do not drink though their beaks like a straw. They lap up nectar with their tongues.
A hummingbird's heart beats up to 1,260 times per minute.
A Hummingbird's heart beats about 250 times per minute at rest.
A hummingbird's heart is 2.5% of the total body weight.
A hummingbird will take about 250 breaths per minute while at rest.
A hummingbird's metabolism is roughly 100 times that of an elephant.
Hummingbirds have very weak feet and can barely walk. They prefer to fly.
Hummingbirds like to perch.
Hummingbirds spend most of their life perching.
The hummingbird's body temperature is about 107 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius).
Hummingbirds are on average 8.5 centimeters long from the tip of the beak to the tip of the tail.
A hummingbird can weigh anywhere between 2 and 20 grams.
A penny weighs 2.5 grams
30% of a hummingbird's weight consists of flight muscles
Humans pectoral muscles are about 5% of body weight
Female hummingbirds are usually larger than male hummingbirds.
An average sized hummingbird will have about 940 feathers.
Females find iridescent feathers attractive.
Hummingbirds do not mate for life.
Male hummingbirds do not help raise the young.
Female hummingbirds do all the nest building.
A hummingbird baby is about the size of a penny.
Females will lay a clutch of two eggs.
Baby hummingbirds cannot fly.
Baby hummingbirds will remain in a nest for three (3) weeks.
Most hummingbirds die in the first year of life.
Hummingbirds have an average life span of about 5 years.
Hummingbirds can live for more than 10 years.
A hummingbird wings will beat about 70 times per second.
Hummingbird's wings will beat up to 200 times per second when diving.
Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly both forward and backwards.
Hummingbirds can also hover in mid-air, fly sideways and even upside-down.
A hummingbird can fly an average of miles per hour.
A hummingbird can dive up to 60 miles per hour.
A hummingbird's wings will rotate in a full circle.
Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds have been known to travel 500 miles over the Gulf of Mexico to breeding grounds.
It is estimated that a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird takes about twenty (20) hours to fly across the Gulf of Mexico.
Some hummingbirds will travel over two-thousand (2,000) miles twice a year during migration times.
The Rufous Hummingbird travels the farthest north of any other hummingbird to migrate. All the way from Mexico to Alaska.
Hummingbirds need to eat on average 7 times per hour for about seconds.
A hummingbird can eat anywhere from half (1/2) to eight (8) times its body weight a day.
A hummingbird will visit an average of 1,000 flowers per day for nectar.
Hummingbirds eat small soft bugs for protein.
A hummingbird will lap up nectar at a rate of about 13 licks per second.
Hummingbirds can double his/her weight before migration.
Hummingbirds will not get addicted to a hummingbird feeder filled with nectar. The hummingbirds will leave when they need to.
When hummingbirds sleep at night, they go into a hibernation-like state called torpor.
Hummingbirds enter torpor to conserve energy.
When a hummingbird goes into torpor, their metabolic rate is one-fifteenth (1/15) of normal sleep.
Torpor can save up to 60% of a hummingbird's available energy.
When in torpor, and hummingbirds heart rate can drop to as few as 50 beats per minute.
During torpor, a hummingbird can lower the body temperature to 30 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius)
When hummingbirds go into torpor, they will appear as if they are dead and have occasionally been found to be hanging upside-down.
It can take up to an hour for a hummingbird to fully recover from torpor.
Hummingbirds are only found naturally in the Americas.
Hummingbirds are found as far north as Alaska.
Hummingbirds are found as far south as Chile.
There are more than 300 types or species of hummingbirds.
Most of the types or species of hummingbirds are found in South America.
The county of Ecuador has the largest number of types or species of hummingbirds.
There are more than fifty (50) types or species of hummingbirds that breed in Mexico.
There are more than fifteen (15) types or species of hummingbirds that breed in the United States.

21. What is a mourning dove?
The oldest documented wild Mourning Dove was 19.3 years old. The average lifespan of wild birds is 1.5 years.
Both males and females secrete a substance from their crop that is high in protein and fat. Called crop milk or pigeon milk, it resembles and smells like cottage cheese and is fed to young birds.