Main Home or ESL Home San Diego Creek Trail DIRECTIONS: Use the list to help you identify the animals and plants. You may use some words more than once. The number of underlined spaces matches the number of letters in the correct word. Put your cursor over the photograph for the answer.
  • rabbit
  • lizard
  • hummingbird
  • mistletoe
  • swallows
  • mallard
  • egret
  • hawk
  • snail
  • vulture
  • tumbleweed
  • goose
  • seagull
  • coot
great egret

great   __ __ __ __ __

1.   This heron has a YELLOW bill,
black legs, and BLACK feet.

 snowy egret

snowy   __ __ __ __ __

2.   This heron has a BLACK bill,
black legs, and YELLOW feet.

 mallard ducks

__ __ __ __ __ __ __   ducks

3.   The female duck is brown.
The male duck has a green head
and a yellow bill.

 black-chinned hummingbird

black-chinned

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

4.   People hang feeders with
nectar (water mixed with sugar)
for these birds.
mud nests of cliff swallows

mud nests of
cliff   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

5.   They arrive in March
from Argentina where
they spend the winters.

When the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
  come back to Capistrano,
that's the day I pray that
you'll come back to me.
— from a famous song		 hawk

__ __ __ __

6.   It eats small animals and birds.

 turkey vulture

turkey   __ __ __ __ __ __ __

7.   It is also called a buzzard.
It does not kill for food.
It only eats dead animals.

 seagulls

__ __ __ __ __ __ __

8.   It eats everything it finds
at the beach. Unlike humans,
it can drink seawater.
American coot

American   __ __ __ __

9.   It is also called a mud or marsh hen. It is usually seen in large groups.

 Canada goose

Canada   __ __ __ __ __

10.   It flies with others
in a V-shaped formation.
It lives in Asia and Europe, too.

 brush rabbit

11.   brush   __ __ __ __ __ __

It sits very still.
If you scare it,
then it will hop away.

 brown garden snail

brown garden   __ __ __ __ __

12.   It was brought to California to
be eaten as escargot (es-kar-'GOU).
sagebrush lizard

sagebrush   __ __ __ __ __ __

13.   It likes to eat insects,
especially ants.

 Western fence lizard

Western fence   __ __ __ __ __ __

14.   The males have blue bellies.
It becomes lighter or darker to
match its environment.

 oak mistletoe

oak   __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

15.   It is a winter holiday tradition
to kiss beneath a sprig of
this parasitic shrub.

 Russian thistle tumbleweed

Russian thistle

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

16.   In the fall, this bush dries
and breaks loose. It rolls around
to spread its seeds.