AZ-San+Rafael+Grasslands


 * =Birding in Arizona=

Santa Cruz County
=San Rafael Grasslands= Patagonia, Arizona 85624 San Rafael Grasslands Important Bird Area webpage

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San Rafael Grasslands
Coordinates: 31.4481247, -110.6026093 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

San Rafael Grasslands--Duquesne Road tank
Coordinates: 31.3383258, -110.5456138 eBird links: Hotspot map View details Recent visits My eBird links: Location life list Submit data

About San Rafael Grasslands
This beautiful valley is the headwaters of the Santa Cruz River, which flows into Mexico then turns north back into the United States and eventually joins the Gila River. This valley is largely private land that has historically been used for cattle grazing for the approximately 175 years. At the center of the valley is the San Rafael State Natural Area, formerly the San Rafael Ranch, which was acquired by the state in 1999 with help from the Nature Conservancy to preserve this beautiful area. Much of the private ranching land in the valley is protected by conservation easements to ensure that the sustainable grazing practices that have preserved this valley continue. The riparian areas and native grass prairie are home to many species of plants and animals. One of the endangered plants, Huachuca Water Umbel grows in the river area. One can also see Mule Deer, Javalina, Antelope, Bobcats, Cougar, and Coyote along with the many bird species of the prairie.

The habitat is primarily short grass prairie and is one of the finest stands of native grassland in the state. This area encompasses one of the last remaining un-fragmented remnants of a grassland ecosystem in the U.S. between southern California and west Texas. Plains Grassland in SE Arizona is situated above 1,200 m and below 2,300 m in elevation. The Plains Grasslands that occur in SE Arizona are composed of mixed or short-grass communities (Brown 1994). The San Rafael Valley also has Madrean evergreen woodland and riparian deciduous broadleaf woodland on the periphery of the valley.

Ornithological Summary: The San Rafael Grasslands is a valley with wide-open high grasslands that are best known for wintering raptors, sparrows, pipits, and longspurs. Short grass prairie species can be found here all through the year. This is a unique area with rolling hills, native grasses, and oak and cottonwood trees. As some of the last remaining unfragmented short grass prairie habitat left in the American Southwest, this area is of vital importance for grassland species of birds. Two IBA coordinated surveys were organized and implemented on 12/10/2010 and 2/12/2011 in which the five driving routes were surveyed simultaneously. The surveyors found many species of conservation concern including Chestnut-collared Longspur (87 on 12/10 & 637 on 2/12, IUCN NT, Audubon Watch List Yellow, USFWS BCC 2008), Cassin’s sparrow (5 on 2/12, USFWS BCR #35), Arizona Grasshopper Sparrow (breeding) (10 on 12/10 & 5 on 2/12, AZGFD SGCN 1b, USFWS BCR), Brewer’s Sparrow (12 on 12/10 & 33 on 2/12 Audubon WL Yellow, USFWS), Savannah Sparrow (186 on 12/10 & 344 on 2/12, AZGFD SGCN 1b), Lincoln’s Sparrow (23 on 12/10 & 14 on 2/12, AZGFD SGCN 1b), and Prairie Falcon (4 on 12/10 & 2 on 2/12, USFWS BCC #33). The number of Chestnut-collared Longspurs documented meets the criteria that qualify this area as a Global IBA. From San Rafael Grasslands Important Bird Area webpage



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