Notes from the Field
Interesting Nature Facts #45 – Great Blue Heron
The great blue heron has a huge wingspan, but still 8 inches short of the bald eagle's 80-inch wingspan. MORE PHOTOS OF BIRDS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that make North America so amazing. Posts...
Interesting Nature Facts #44 – Vultures
Why don't we see a lot of dead animals in the wild? You can thank the reviled vulture. They eat the dead as fast as they can be found, protecting all of us from disease and sickness. MORE PHOTOS OF BIRDS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a...
Interesting Nature Facts #43 – Red Fox
A red fox hones in on the Earth’s magnetic field to fine-tune its pounce, allowing it to target mice stirring 3 feet beneath the snow. Unlike its canine relative the wolf, the nocturnal red fox prefers a life of seclusion to one of roaming in packs. It can run as fast...
Interesting Nature Facts #42 – Raccoon
A raccoon can rotate its hind feet a full 180 degrees, giving it the ability to climb down from trees head first. MORE PHOTOS OF RACCOONS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that make North America so...
Interesting Nature Facts #41 – Chihuahuan Raven
The bases of neck and body feathers of a Chihuahuan raven are white, not gray like those of other American crows and ravens. The white is difficult to see in the field, and is only revealed by wind blowing the feathers, or when a bird fluffs its feathers to display at...
Interesting Nature Facts #40 – Fiddler Crabs
Fiddler crabs are the most common crab in a salt marsh and they play an important role in the salt marsh community. They eat detritus (dead or decomposing plant and animal matter) and are themselves food for a number of wetland animals. In Spanish, the fiddler crab is...
Interesting Nature Facts #39 – Honey Bees
Bees have two stomachs: one regular stomach and one stomach for storing nectar. When full, the bee doubles its weight. MORE PHOTOS OF INVERTEBRATES MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that make North...
Interesting Nature Facts #38 – Guadalupe Mountains
The Guadalupe Mountains just East of El Paso, Texas are part of one of the finest examples of an ancient marine fossil reef on Earth. Geologists come here from around the world to marvel at this extraordinary natural phenomenon, which formed approximately 250 million...
Interesting Nature Facts #37 – Forests
Sound fades in forests, making trees a popular natural noise barrier. The muffling effect is largely due to rustling leaves — plus other woodland white noise, like bird songs — and just a few well-placed trees can cut background sound by 5 to 10 decibels, or about 50...
Interesting Nature Facts #36 – Sonoran Desert
The Sonoran Desert is the hottest and most biodiverse of the North American deserts, and home to 60 species of mammals, more than 350 kinds of birds, 20 amphibians, around 100 reptiles and over 2000 native species of plants. MORE PHOTOS FROM THE SONORAN DESERT MORE...
Interesting Nature Facts #35 – Moab Desert
The Moab Desert in eastern Utah has a very interesting history and ecosystem. The human history can be traced back over 10,000 years, and the first signs of humans appeared as signs carved into indigenous rock formations found in several places. Hundreds of species of...
Interesting Nature Facts #34 – White Sands National Monument
Only a handful of gypsum dunefields exist and New Mexico's White Sands dunefield is by far the world’s largest, covering 275 square miles. MORE PHOTOS OF DESERTS MORE INTERESTING NATURE FACTS Interesting Nature Facts is a series about the flora, fauna and places that...