Featured Species
Arizona is an ecologically diverse state that provides habitat to a wide variety of plants and animals. The state contains part or all of the four North American deserts: the Sonoran, Chihuahuan, Mojave, and Great Basin. In addition, Arizona is known for its grasslands, forests, mountains, and rivers, which cover many biological zones of life, from lowland hot, dry deserts to high-altitude cooler, wetter coniferous forests and alpine tundra. There are 72 threatened, endangered, or candidate species in Arizona, including 10 mammals, 9 birds, 5 reptiles, 2 amphibians, 21 fishes, 2 snails, 1 insect, and 22 plants. Many of these species also have designated critical habitat.
534 species of birds are known to occur in Arizona, with the southern part of the state renown as a birding hotspot. Among those, the Southwestern willow flycatcher, Western yellow-billed cuckoo, masked bobwhite quail, and Mexican spotted owl are federally protected, with the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl under review.