wildlife preserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
in the
Colorado Desert
The Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert located in California, United States, and Baja California, Mexico. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella, Imperial and Mexicali valleys. It is home to ...
in
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...
. It contains a large
oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentwetland habitat, with pools fed both by water seeping from the
Coachella Canal
The Coachella Canal is a aqueduct that conveys Colorado River water for irrigation northwest from the All-American Canal to the Coachella Valley north of the Salton Sea in Riverside County, California.
The canal was completed in 1949 and is cu ...
Dos Palmas Spring
Dos Palmas Spring is an artesian spring in Riverside County, California where it lies at the foot of the Orocopia Mountains. It is only one of several such springs in the area that create an oasis in the Colorado Desert there.
History
Dos Pa ...
. Desert fan palms are abundant. Dos Palmas Preserve . Bureau of Land Management, accessed April 12, 2015.
Plants and wildlife
Endangered species at the preserve include the Yuma rail (a subspecies of Ridgway's rail), the
desert pupfish
The desert pupfish (''Cyprinodon macularius'') is a rare species of teleost, bony fish in the family Cyprinodontidae. It is a small fish, typically less than 7.62 cm (3 in) in length. Males are generally larger than females, and have br ...
black rail
The black rail (''Laterallus jamaicensis'') is a mouse-sized member of the rail family Rallidae that occurs in both North and South America.
Taxonomy
The black rail was Species description, formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist J ...
is on the state "threatened" list. More common resident or migrant species that may be seen at the oasis include the
American avocet
The American avocet (''Recurvirostra americana'') is a large wader in the avocet and stilt family, Recurvirostridae, found in North America. It spends much of its time foraging in shallow water or on mud flats, often sweeping its bill from side ...
,
black-necked stilt
The black-necked stilt (''Himantopus mexicanus'') is a locally abundant shorebird of North and South American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along ...
,
bufflehead
The bufflehead (''Bucephala albeola'') is a small sea duck of the genus ''Bucephala'', the goldeneyes. It breeds in Alaska and Canada and migrates in winter to southern North America. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his lan ...
,
desert woodrat
The desert woodrat (''Neotoma lepida'') is a species of pack rat native to desert regions of western North America.
Description
Desert woodrats are relatively small for pack rats, measuring in length, including a tail. They weigh from , wit ...
,
flat-tail horned lizard
The flat-tail horned lizard (''Phrynosoma mcallii'') is a species of lizard in the family Phrynosomatidae. A species of reptile, it is endemic to the Sonoran Desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. Its multiple adaptatio ...
,
leaf-nosed bat
The New World leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) are bats (order Chiroptera) found from southern North America to South America, specifically from the Southwest United States to northern Argentina. Both the scientific and common names derive from ...
,
least bittern
The least bittern (''Botaurus exilis'') is a small heron, the smallest member of the family Ardeidae found in the Americas. This species was formerly placed in the genus ''Ixobrychus''.
Taxonomy
The least bittern was Species description, forma ...
,
osprey
The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...
,
lesser scaup
The lesser scaup (''Aythya affinis'') is a small North American diving duck that migrates south as far as Central America in winter. It is colloquially known as the little bluebill or broadbill because of its distinctive blue bill. The origin of ...
and
snowy egret
The snowy egret (''Egretta thula'') is a small white heron. The genus name comes from Provençal French for the little egret, , which is a diminutive of , 'heron'. The species name ''thula'' is the Araucano term for the black-necked swan, a ...
.
Loggerhead shrike
The loggerhead shrike (''Lanius ludovicianus'') is a passerine bird in the family Laniidae. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related northern shrike (''L. borealis'') occurs north of its range, however it ...
,
northern harrier
The northern harrier (''Circus hudsonius''), also known as the marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost United States, USA.
The northern ...
and the
prairie falcon
The prairie falcon (''Falco mexicanus'') is a medium-sized Falconiformes, falcon found in Western North America. A separate species from the peregrine falcon, with which it shares some visual similarities, the prairie falcon is, essentially, an ...