California Ecosystems - Thrashers in the Ceanothus (original) valley oak Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias)

Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias) hunt among the cattails (Typha latifolia) for Harvest Mice (Reithrodontomys megalotis)

Where males forage near the sea floor along the continental shelf

Wetlands in California support a wide variety of species

This original illustration of a protea is rendered in colored pencil on Duralene and backed with colored paper

California Ecosystems - Thrashers in the Ceanothus (original) valley oak Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias)California's foothills are blanketed with vast swaths of shrubbery, also known as chaparral. This dense growth provides habitat for a number of animals. Buck brush (Ceanothus cuneatus) is one of our dominant chaparral shrubs. It is eaten by caterpillars of the Ceanothus Silk Moth (Hyalophora euryalus). California Thrashers (Toxostoma redivivum) use their long, curved bills to dig for food in the leaf litter beneath shrubs and perch atop them to sing.