Animals

Birds

Like many national park areas, Petrified Forest National Park provides a unique place of protection and preservation. Here, birds can find food and shelter that may not be available in other regions on their journeys from habitat to habitat. Patches of healthy, undeveloped habitats are found in the modern fragmented landscape, connected by corridors such as Petrified Forest National Park.

Petrified Forest has a variety of habitats. Raptors, songbirds, and ground birds can be found in the grassland. Riparian corridors provide food and shelter for warblers, vireos, avocets, killdeer, and others. The exotic and native trees and shrubs around the Visitor Center and Rainbow Forest Museum provide home for western tanagers, hermit warblers, and house finches. The park also offers sightings of vagrant shore birds and rare Eastern birds not seen often in Arizona. Rarities, such as black-throated blue warbler, have been found by Maricopa Audubon Society members. September and early October seem to be the best time to visit the area to see these fascinating vagrants.

Like the canary in the mine, birds gauge the health and safety of our environment. By watching birds, noting species, and the migration of species, we can understand the changes in our environment.

Amphibians

Can you imagine living underground for nine months of the year and not eating, drinking, or defecating? Amphibians are an amazing group of animals do just that.

It is hard to imagine that in this dry region animals that require consistent moisture could thrive. Three hundred and fifty million years ago the first fish-like amphibian hauled itself out of the sea. Within the sedimentary rock of the park, giant amphibians such as metoposaurs have been discovered as fossils. By the time dinosaurs appeared, amphibians were flourishing. Today, they are still among the most successful groups of animals.

Why have they survived and adapted to such varied environments worldwide? Permeable skin! Amphibians do not drink; they absorb water through their skin. Spadefoot toads, residents of the park, absorb water from the soil in which they hibernate. Although permeable skin allows for water absorption, it provides little barrier to evaporation. This causes the animal's water balance to be in constant flux. Evaporative water loss also results in loss of body temperature. This is why you often see amphibians on warm pavement in the evening. It is not an easy life for amphibians in this dry grassland. Behavioral and physiological mechanisms that shape their daily life make it possible for them to survive.

Although amphibians have survived here for millions of years, today they are in trouble. Biologists around the world have noted dramatic declines in amphibian populations. No one knows what is causing these declines, but it is thought to be a sign of unfavorable environmental changes. Habitats such as wetlands are being destroyed, pesticides and metal poisons are contaminating the water, new predators are being introduced, the ozone layer is being depleted, and global climate changes are underway. In some cases, natural population fluctuations may explain the decline but scientists have ruled out natural causes as the only explanation for the overall problem. All around the world, declines are occurring in many species. What is clear is that human actions are the primary cause of these declines.

The following is a list of amphibians known to currently occur in the park. Further research will undoubtedly locate more species as different habitats in the park are more thoroughly studied.

Tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum
Woodhouse's toad, Bufo woodhousii
Red-spotted toad, Bufo punctatus
Great Plains toad, Bufo cognatus
New Mexico spadefoot, Scaphiopus multiplicata
Plains spadefoot, Spea bombifrons
Couch’s spadefoot, Scaphiopus couchii

Animals

Animal life at Petrified Forest includes amphibians, birds, insects, spiders, mammals, and reptiles. Birds, lizards and rabbits are seen most frequently, though seasons and weather play a large role in determining what animals are active.

For many animals, activity occurs during a particular temperature range. "Crepuscular" animals are active at dawn and dusk, the coolest times of day. The half-darkness makes prey animals less visible, yet visibility is good enough to locate food.

Activity can change with the season, too. Snakes and lizards are "diurnal" (active during the day) in late spring and early fall, but they become "crepuscular" (active at dawn and dusk) during the heat of summer.

Many animals in the park are "nocturnal" (active at night). This is an adaptation not only to avoid high summer daytime temperatures, but also to avoid certain predators.

You are much more likely to see animal life in the park if you come as early as park hours allow and stay as late as allowed. These are also the times when the angle of the sun makes the views and colors of the Painted Desert most spectacular.

Whenever you are in a national park, do not approach, feed, or harass any wildlife. Help your parks reduce the impact of human visitors to the homeland of many wild species.

Mammals

Mammals are a diverse group of animals, ranging from the delicate white-footed mouse to the elegant mule deer. Mammals have fur or hair, produce milk for their offspring, and are warm-blooded.

In the often extreme climate of the plateau country, animals use such survival strategies as hiding in their burrows or migration as well as physiological adaptations like hollow hairs for insulation. Many animals in arid regions are nocturnal, using the cooler night to survive the heat of summer or the darkness of the late hours to escape notice of predators.

Early morning is the best time to view mammals while in the park. Do not approach, feed, or harass any wildlife in Petrified Forest or any other national park area.

The list below features only a few of the many species of mammals in the park.

Coyote, Canis latrans
Gray fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus
Swift fox, Vulpes velox
Bobcat, Lynx rufus (Felis rufus)
Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus
Pronghorn, Antilocapra americana
Ringtail, Bassariscus astutus
Raccoon, Procyon lotor
Badger, Taxidea taxus
Striped skunk, Mephitis mephitis
Western spotted skunk, Spilogale gracilis
Black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
Desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
Desert shrew, Notiosorex crawfordi
Pallid bat, Antrozous pallidus
Townsend's big-eared bat, Corynorhinus townsendii (Plecotus townsendii)
California myotis, Myotis californicus
Fringed myotis, Myotis thysanodes
Yuma myotis, Myotis yumanensis
Western pipistrelle, Pipistrellus hesperus
Porcupine, Erethizon dorsatum
Gunnison's prairie dog, Cynomys gunnisoni
White-tailed antelope squirrel, Ammospermophilus leucurus
Spotted ground squirrel, Spermophilus spilosoma
Rock squirrel, Spermophilus variegatus
Botta's pocket gopher, Thomomys bottae
White-throated woodrat, Neotoma albigula
Bushy-tailed woodrat, Neotoma cinerea
Mexican woodrat, Neotoma mexicana
Stephens' woodrat, Neotoma stephensi
Ord’s kangaroo rat, Dipodomys ordii
Silky pocket mouse, Perognathus flavus
Northern grasshopper mouse, Onychomys leucogaster
Brush mouse, Peromyscus boylii
Canyon mouse, Peromyscus crinitis
White-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus
Deer mouse, Peromyscus maniculatus
Pinon mouse, Peromyscus truei
Western harvest mouse, Reithrodontomys megalotis
House mouse, Mus musculus