20 meters in height: the huge cacti of the Sonora desert, in which owls live

It turns out that not all types of cacti can fit in a flower pot on the windowsill. Among them there are real giants that reach a height of 20 meters and even serve as a habitat for birds. It is such cacti that grow in the North American Desert of Sonora and are strictly protected by the state, and 25 years of imprisonment await for the destruction or damage of this plant.

The Sonora Desert is located north of the Gulf of California in Mexico and the United States. This sandy-rocky desert covers an area of about 300,000 square kilometers and is considered one of the driest in North America. But about 2,000 plants and about 500 species of terrestrial animals that live in the vastness of Sonora were able to adapt to high temperatures and a small amount of rainfall. The most famous desert plant is the huge saguaro cactus, or giant carnegia. This species of the cactus family is endemic to Sonora, that is, it grows only in this desert and is not found anywhere else in the world. Therefore, in order to protect this unique cactus and the Sonora desert ecosystem as a whole, the Saguaro National Park was organized in the American part of the desert in the state of Arizona.

Giant Carnegia (lat. Carnegiea gigantea) can reach a height of 15-20 meters with a trunk diameter of 65 centimeters. The length of the spines of this giant is also appropriate - up to 7 centimeters. The officially registered record is a saguaro cactus 24 meters high. Unfortunately, he no longer exists - the plant died during a storm in the 70s of the last century.

With age, the saguaro trunk branches, the plant takes on a shape resembling a candelabrum. Adult saguaros bloom, like all desert cacti, once a year, with the onset of the rainy season. When the long-awaited moisture comes into the desert after a grueling drought, the saguaros are covered with dozens of white flowers with a creamy center and look simply amazing. Along with a light color, there are purple and yellow flowers.

Due to their grandiose size, these cacti occupy a niche of trees in the desert ecosystem. Blooming cacti attract hummingbirds, bats and insects with their nectar, and their trunks are home to several species of birds.

So, for example, an owl-elf, or a cactus owl, prefers to settle in the trunks of a saguaro. The prickly stalk protects the hatched chicks from land predators, therefore, the survival rate of chicks in this species reaches 70% - an outstanding indicator among owls in North America. This species is considered the smallest among the representatives of the order of owls and grows up to 10-12 centimeters. Owls and some other birds often occupy empty holes that were hollowed out by woodpeckers.

Saguaros can live up to 200 years. This type of cactus is strictly protected by American law, and anyone who harms this type of plant faces up to 25 years in prison. But even this does not stop the attackers: poachers sometimes dig up grown specimens that can still be placed in the car and take them out of the park. The fact is that for such an exotic you can get a considerable amount. In the Saguaro National Park every 10 years, they record the highest cactus on the planet. In order to count the number of all cacti, and there are more than 1 million of them, the park management attracts volunteers.