In the Middle Ages, rulers would protect their castles by building moats. In the Sonoran Desert, owls, hawks and wrens adhere to a similar philosophy, but instead of deep, wide ditches filled with water, they use the sharp barbs of cactuses to protect their lairs.
A portfolio by Jack Dykinga
A family of Harris’ hawks (Parabuteo unicinctus) nest atop a saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) on Bureau of Land Management land near Oracle. The bird perched on the tallest saguaro arm is an adult female, while the other hawks are chicks. “Harris’ hawks are defined by their close-knit family units,” Dykinga says. “Their young will stay close to home and even hunt with their parents as a sort of aerial wolf pack. I spent months watching this group and waiting for decisive moments as the young tested their wings with short flights between cactus arms.”
A cactus wren emerges from its tightly woven nest in a cholla in the Santa Catalinas’ foothills. These birds are named for their fondness for thorny and spiny places, which keep them safe from predation.
At dawn, an adult great horned owl (Bubo virginianus) and its owlet eye their photographer from a saguaro nest near Oracle. “This owlet was about 2 months old,” Dykinga says. “This nest affords the owls a panoramic view to watch for danger or a potential meal, and the saguaro provides the structural integrity to accommodate such an elaborate nest.”
A cactus wren (Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus) carries a twig to its partly constructed nest on a cholla cactus (genus Cylindropuntia). “Cactus wrens are the worker bees of the desert bird world,” photographer Jack Dykinga says. “They often construct several nests on their favorite cactuses, the chollas. Luckily, I have several pairs laboring away near our home in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, and I can pass hours watching and admiring them.
