VALLEY FOOTHILL RIPARIAN

VEGETATION:

Canopy height is approximately 30 m (98 ft) in a mature riparian forest, with a canopy cover of 20 to 80 percent. Most trees are winter deciduous. There is a subcanopy tree layer and an understory shrub layer. Lianas (usually wild grape) frequently provide 30 to 50 percent of the ground cover and festoon trees to heights of 20 to 30 m (65 to 98 ft). Dominant species in the canopy layer are cottonwood, California sycamore and valley oak. Typical understory shrub layer plants include wild grape, wild rose, California blackberry, blue elderberry, poison oak, buttonbrush, and willows.

COMMON BIRD SPECIES:

Year-round Residents: California Quail, Mourning Dove, Killdeer, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, Acorn Woodpecker, Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, American Kestrel, Black Phoebe, Loggerhead Shrike, California Scrub-Jay, Yellow-billed Magpie, Common Raven, Oak Titmouse, Bushtit, Wrentit, White-breasted Nuthatch, Bewick’s Wren, California Thrasher, European Starling, Northern Mockingbird, Western Bluebird, Phainopepla, House Finch, Lesser Goldfinch, Lark Sparrow, California Towhee, Spotted Towhee, Brewer’s Blackbird

Winter Visitors: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Thrush, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden-crowned Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Summer Visitors: Green Heron, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Violet-Green Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren,