Cactus Nursery Watering & Care-Coastal Cactus Wren Habitat Restoration

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Cactus Watering and Maintenance in the nursery: Varies with weather conditions, typically once a week to every other week for 3-4 hours. Opportunity takes place during the week Monday to Friday.

The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is growing 3,000 baby cactus at a local, off-site nursery to build nesting habitat for the locally-imperiled Coastal Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus. We need help with watering, removing flowers (so the plants grow larger, faster), fertilizing, and weeding their pots.

The Coastal Cactus Wren, Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus, is a locally-imperiled bird species dependent on large strands of cactus in order to breed successfully in their natural habitat. In coastal Southern California, wren populations have declined to very low levels compared to their historic numbers. Without efforts to increase this species' habitat, the Coastal Cactus Wren will likely be extirpated from coastal, cismontane Southern California. We are growing cactus to plant later that will enhance existing and create new wren habitat later this year.