Habitats of the Americas Page 2

Habitats vary all over the New World, from Arctic climes, to deserts, to mountains, to tropical rain forests. Each habitat has its own characteristic avifauna. Here we present some of the varied habitats found in the Americas, and some of the birds you might see there.

Additions to this page will be posted periodically, so check again to see new places and the birds that live in them!

Habitats:

• Lowland Pine Savanna, Nicaragua and Honduras

• Tallgrass Prairie, Oklahoma, USA

• Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

• Alpine Habitat in New Mexico, USA

Back to Habitats, Page 1

Lowland Pine Savanna, Honduras and Nicaragua

East of Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, 15 January 1995	About 25 km southeast of Waspam, Nicaragua, 13 January 1995	About 5 km east of Ahuasbila, Honduras, 1 March 1992

A habitat that was severely affected by Hurricane Mitch in late October, 1998, is the lowland pine savanna of northeastern Honduras and northeastern Nicaragua. This unique habitat is the southernmost extension of natural pines in the lowlands of the western hemisphere. (Pines extend a little further south in the mountains of Central America, and have been introduced by Man throughout South America.) The savanna is composed primarily of Caribbean pine (Pinus caribea) and grassland, with gallery forests of broad-leaved species along the banks of rivers and watercourses. Hurricane Mitch crossed right over the lowland pine savanna with 240 kph (150 mph) winds and heavy rains.

To a birder from North America, many species that occur in the lowland pine savanna would seem familiar. This area is near the southern extent of the range of many species from North America. On the other hand, it is also a tropical habitat, and has many species a North American birder would not be familiar with, too. Some species on the list are species that would be associated with gallery forests in the savanna. Some of the following species are migrants that winter here but breed in North America; those are marked with an asterisk. A few of the bird species you might expect to see here are:

Tallgrass Prairie, Oklahoma, USA

Tallgrass prairie north of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. This is the southern end of the Flint Hills, which extend northward to Manhattan, Kansas.	Flowering prairie southeast of Bartlesville, Oklahoma.

Tallgrass praire can be a lush, thick, green forest, head high by fall. Although many species of birds can be found around the edges of the prairie or along watercourses, where there are a few trees, the most abundant species out in the open prairie itself are a relatively small number of ground-nesting species.

The virgin tallgrass prairie pictured here covers a gently-rolling terrain. It has never been plowed, but does harbor some exotic plant species, and is grazed by cattle.

A few bird species you might see if you visited here during the summer are:

Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Canyon at north edge of city of Guadalajara. Air is somewhat hazy from smog.	Canyon at edge of Guadalajara, with city visible in background.

Guadalajara is a city of some 5 million people in the central Mexican state of Jalisco. Although it is a BIG city, it ends abruptly to the north at the Canyon of the Oblatos. This canyon provides habitat for a number of resident and migrant species.

The area around Guadalajara is normally arid, and a major agricultural crop in the area is agave, used for making tequila. These photographs were made in early February.

A few bird species you might see if you visited here:

Alpine of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains , New Mexico , USA

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, north-central New Mexico, contain the largest amount of Rocky Mountain alpine habitat south of Colorado.  Hundreds of elk and bighorn sheep can be seen grazing on the ridges and peaks, as well as lots of marmots and picas.  Several of the peaks surpass 13,000 feet.

White-tailed Ptarmigan in New Mexico, July 2006

Click to hear the "chuckle" call of a male ptarmigan recorded on location in July 2006 (WAV file)

Other birds that can be seen in the Sangre de Cristo alpine include:

Slightly lower, below the timber line, the following are just a few of the bird species that are also somewhat common:

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Copyright 1998 George M. Sutton Avian Research Center

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