Lizards are awesome, right? Colorful and interesting. Like snakes, but faster and with legs. Many of the resident lizards in Oregon’s high desert have interesting and evocative names, such as the long-nosed leopard lizard or desert horned lizard or western whiptail. And then there’s the one that might benefit from a PR review: the ubiquitous little side-blotched lizard. While descriptive, “side-blotched” just doesn’t have quite the same ring, but the side-blotched lizard is an interesting critter and widespread enough to be one of our most often encountered high desert denizens.
If you’ve seen a lizard in the Oregon high desert, chances are you’ve encountered Uta stansburiana.
Although it can be hard to see on some individuals, both male and female lizards show that eponymous “side-blotch,” a dark spot on the chest wall behind their front legs. As with most species, males and females differ somewhat in appearance, with the males a bit fancier and colorful, especially in spring mating season (coming right up!). Brownish to light tan from a distance, males up close exhibit light turquoise dorsal spots and sport an orange wash on their sides and chin; females are lighter and creamy to tan, with sometimes a bit of orange, and often show a line of dark V spots down their tails. Both are a pale bluish gray underneath, and often have loose rows of small, irregular dark spots on their backs.
Interestingly, their scales are neither smooth and shiny (such as in alligator lizards) nor spiky and rough (as in Western fence lizards), but appear to be tiny rounded “beads.” They are generally small, around 5 inches in total, with about a 2-inch body and 3-inch tail. Every other species of adult lizard in our area will be longer, with some reaching up to 10 inches.
Their favored habitats include sandy soil, pebbly and hard-pan desert flats, small rock piles and outcroppings, and rocky escarpments or even canyon walls. Side-blotched lizards are serious predators of arthropods, AKA “bugs:” insects, mites, spiders, scorpions, centi- and millipedes, isopods and pill bugs. Rarely found in areas that are heavily treed, their preferred hunting grounds are areas with sparsely scattered shrubs, grasses and forbs that provide a variety of habitat for their many-legged prey.
Side-blotched lizards are among the earliest reptiles aroused in spring. This early spate of activity may be related to their generally smaller, thus easier to warm, bodies — an advantage that also makes them the most likely species you will encounter on sunny March days. On hotter days, they’ll be active earlier and later in the day, avoiding the intense midday sun.
If you are lucky enough to observe them hunting, it’s fun to watch as they visually stalk their diminutive prey, pouncing or leaping the last several inches to make the snag — reminiscent of scaly, short-legged little cats…or not.
Another amusing behavior visible in March and April occurs when the males are courting mates. They become quite self-absorbed and focused, and thus can normally be approached quite closely by a patient observer. Then you’ll see him showing off his enhanced aqua spots and orange coloring while doing quick little push-ups and head-bobs — so attractive to the ladies. After mating, females lay a small clutch of one to five eggs, and may do so two or three times in a season, depending upon conditions and prey levels.
In Oregon, side-blotched lizards range throughout most of Malheur, Harney and Lake counties, and arcing north/northwest through eastern Deschutes and Jefferson counties, all of Crook and Wheeler counties. Keep a lookout for the quick little critters darting among the bushes and rocks when you walk around in Oregon’s Outback in places including the Oregon Badlands Wilderness, Fort Rock, Fossil Lake and the Lost Forest, Obsidian Buttes, the edges of the Alvord Desert edges and all through the Owyhee. They’re abundant, easy to discover and fun to watch while they conduct their spring antics.
If you’re starting to think that the high desert reveals another wonder under every rock and bush, you’re right. Every wild inhabitant fills its niche, and even the little ones with drab names offer more to think about once you take the time to get to know them.
—Scott R. Bowler is a retired science educator and a volunteer with Oregon Natural Desert Association. Read more of his work at onda.org/author/scott-bowler.
This article appears in Source Weekly March 9, 2023.
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