Coloma Valley Nature Reference
Common Plants and Animals

Natural History

The Coloma Valley is fifteen miles into the foothills from the edge of the Sacramento Valley, but the elevation is only 750 feet. This is the lower extreme of the Upper Sonoran Life Zone, also called the Gray Pine - Chaparral Belt.

The valley contains a wide variety of habitats: riparian, oak woodland, pine groves, steep hillsides, orchards, mining tailings, old residential areas and chaparral. Consequently, there is a large variety of plants and animals to be seen. Listed below are some trees, shrubs, mammals and birds that can be seen on even a casual tour.

Common Native Trees

Ponderosa Pine (also called Yellow Pine)

A tall, straight conifer with long needles. It's common throughout much of the west and prized for its lumber. There are some big ones around St. Johns Church.

Gray Pine (the name "Digger Pine" is no longer acceptable)

Its multiple trunks are often crooked and its needles are grayish-green. There are some big Gray Pines near the river above the Mill and Gold Discovery sites. See our Gray Pine page for photograph and more information.

Incense Cedar

A beautiful conifer with green flat frond-like branches and reddish bark. It is not "choosy" about its habitat and can be found on the valley floor, on steep hillsides, and on the riverbank.

Valley Oak

A deciduous oak that characterizes California to many people. It was called "Roble" by the Spanish. This tree was once common in the Central Valley and in foothill valleys, but is now becoming scarce. There's a big one between the Sawmill parking lot and the Mill site.

Black Oak

A deciduous oak with large lobed leaves. The acorns are an important source of food for animals and were a staple of the Nisenan who had villages here for centuries. They are common on our hillsides.

Interior Live Oak

This is our most common tree. Its leaves are dark and stiff. The "Live Oaks" are so called because they keep their leaves all year.

Western Sycamore

deciduous tree with very large lobed leaves, patchwork bark and dangling seed-balls. It likes sunny locations near streams. There are some big ones in the main picnic area.

Fremont Cottonwood

Another very common riverbank tree, this large tree was often mentioned by early explorers as a sign of water. Its heart-shaped leaves rustle in a breeze. Look for it between the highway and the river.

California Buckeye

A small tree or large shrub, it's beautiful in spring with its green leaves and white flowers. By late summer it is dormant and looks dead. The large nuts are eaten by squirrels, but can be toxic to humans. The biggest buckeye tree in Coloma is right behind Marshall's Cabin.

Black Walnut

Often found at the site of old Indian villages, it was also widely planted by early settlers. Look for it in the North Beach picnic area.

Common Introduced Trees

Tree of Heaven (Ailanthus altissima)

Brought from China by early Chinese miners. It now grows wild along roadsides and is quite common in Coloma. Its compound leaves have an unpleasant odor when crushed. You'll find more information in the ODP: tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima).

Black Locust

Brought in by early American miners. Like the Tree of Heaven, it is now common in Coloma and has compound leaves. It's a tall straight tree and has showy clusters of white flowers in the spring.

Fruit trees

Look for pear, apple, fig, and walnut trees - living reminders of the Forty-Niners who planted them for food.

Common Native Shrubs

Willows

Many varieties of these shrubs or small trees grow along the riverbank. Look for pointed leaves and flexible branches. They provide shelter for wildlife and prevent erosion on stream banks. They were used extensively by native people for furniture, baskets, and medicine.

Toyon

An attractive shrub, very common on the hillsides around Coloma. In early spring its bright red clusters of berries are distinctive. The berries provide winter food for many birds and animals.

Manzanita

A shrub with smooth reddish bark that peels off in strips. Its leathery leaves are well adapted to the hot dry conditions it prefers. Its name means "little apple," and the reddish-brown berries do look like tiny apples.

Coffeeberry

This shrub has velvety gray-green leaves and black berries resembling coffee beans. The berries are food for wildlife, but can cause illness in humans.

Ceanothus

There are many varieties, each with its own common name (e.g. buckbrush, blue-blossom, deer brush, etc.). Very common in chaparral. The heavy sweet odor of its early spring blossoms carries a long distance.

Poison Oak

This plant can take many forms: a ground-creeper, a shrub, or a climbing vine. All parts can cause a painful reaction about 24 hours after contact. One of the most common plants on the hillside and an important plant in the ecosystem, its berries provide food for many forms of wildlife. You'll find a photograph and links to more information on our Reference page.

Other Interesting Plants

Miners Lettuce

A small juicy plant, found in shady damp places in spring. Each flowering stalk has what looks like a leafy disk around the top -- actually two leaves fused together. A spray of tiny white flowers grow from the disk. All parts of the plant can be eaten. Large patches grow along the left side of the trail to the Monument at the original Mill site. The Nisenan also ate this green plant.

Soaproot

extremely useful to the indigenous people, this plant was used for shampoo and soapsuds (the juice), for fish poison (spread on pools of water), for food (the baked bulbs), and for brushes (fibers around the bulbs).

Common Animals Seen During the Day

Western gray squirrel

These large, handsome tree-dwellers feed mainly on nuts and mushrooms. They are strong, agile jumpers. They come to the ground only to feed or to cross to another tree. See the photo right for evidence that a squirrel was enjoying a cone from a gray pine tree.

Black-tailed deer

Your chances of seeing deer are good if your group is small and quiet. Deer often come into park yards and lawns to browse on leaves, especially in the morning and evening. Black-tailed deer are a variety of mule deer, so named because of their large ears. (See photo above.)

Lizards

The hot dry climate of the valley is a good home for many species of lizards and skinks. You will usually find them sunning themselves on rocks on mild days, or hiding in the rocks when the sun hits its summer peak. They eat insects and spiders.

Animals That Are Rarely Seen

River otters

There have been several spottings this year of a family of otters, swimming in the river between Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park and Dave Moore Park, downstream.

Beavers

These large aquatic mammals with lush fur and flat leathery tails are shy and nocturnal, so they are rarely seen. But you may find some evidence of their nightly visitations (see photo right). They are particularly fond of poplars along the riverbank.

Common Birds

Mallard

Well-known "dabbler" ducks living in ponds and river edges, mallards feed on plant life beneath the surface of shallow water.

Canada Goose

In recent years more and more geese have been staying in the Coloma Valley. You will see them, as well as mallards, at the North Beach area. Large groups sometimes congregate on park lawns. (See photo right.)

California Quail

These plump, well-groomed birds usually forage in groups on the ground. When startled, they fly away with a loud whir. Their call carries a long way.

Hummingbirds

You may hear the whir or click of this tiny bird as it hovers and darts about, seeking nectar, spiders and insects.

Red-shafted Flicker

A type of woodpecker, this large bird can be identified by orange patches that "flicker" while it's flying. Unlike most woodpeckers, flickers are often seen feeding on the ground. They have a loud call.

Red-breasted Sapsucker

You may notice orderly rows of small holes in walnut and apple trees. They were made by sapsuckers seeking insects and sap. Like most woodpeckers, the sapsucker has a lot of red on its head.

Acorn Woodpecker

This red-capped bird is often seen and often heard; it has a loud rattling call. It stores acorns in holes drilled in tree trunks. Sometimes hundreds of acorns are stored in the trunk of a single dead tree.

Oregon Junco

These cool-weather visitors gather in flocks to eat seeds and berries. They are recognizable by their black hoods on a small brown-and-gray body.

Cliff Swallow

These birds return each March to build their mud nests on cliffs and walls. They are strong flyers, often seen flying in groups near the old bridge. You can easily see their forked tails as they fly.

Scrub Jay

One of the most easily seen of our birds, recognized by its loud raucous call. They feed on almost anything, including acorns, seeds, insects, and birds eggs. They "plant" many oaks by burying acorns in the ground.

Plain Titmouse

A small gray bird with a pointy tuft on its head. More often seen than heard, it has a variety of loud interesting calls.

House Wren

A plain-looking little bird with an upturned tail, the wren has a beautiful song. It nests in cavities and feeds on insects and spiders.

Robin

Nearly everyone knows this common bird. It is often seen on the ground with its head turned sideways, watching for earthworms to eat.

Starling

These fat purplish blackbirds with short tails usually congregate in flocks. They were introduced from Europe and have become pests because they take over nesting holes of woodpeckers, nuthatches, and other birds.

English Sparrow

Another introduced bird, not a sparrow at all, but a kind of finch. It thrives around streets and buildings and is never seen in the woods or in wild areas. There are always some around Coloma's Chinese stores.

Brewer's Blackbird

These birds, with white or yellow eyes, chatter continually. Often seen feasting on insects in wet fields, they also frequent parking lots, looking for crumbs dropped by people.

Turkey Vultures

Though they seem ominous when circling overhead, these large birds do a great service by cleaning up the carcasses of dead animals. They often congregate in groups, and in the evenings you may see as many as 15-20 of them roosting in a single tree. (photo right)