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A gilded flicker peeks out from its home in the Casa Grande Ruins National Park in Arizona. A large and common woodpecker of the Sonoran Desert, tis bird most frequently build its nest hole in a majestic saguaro cactus. The cactus defends itself against water loss into the cavity of the nesting hole by secreting sap that hardens into a waterproof structure that is known as a saguaro boot.
The bird pecks through the cactus skin and excavates downward to hollow out a space for its nest. When the saguaro dies, its soft flesh rots but its woody infrastructure lasts much longer, hence the name saguaro boot.Image credit: NPS
