qii 



Waterfowl 



Seven species of waterfowl game birds were observed on the Greenleaf- 

 Mlller study area (Table 40). It is possible that some of them may 

 at times breed within the study area boundaries. There are no 

 large reservoirs on the area, only small stock ponds and creek 

 bottoms. Drought conditions severely limited the amount of 

 suitable nesting cover and brood rearing habitat during this study. 

 One brood of four Juvenile mallards was observed on a spring-fed 

 pond during the summer of 198I. 



Songbirds 



Eighty-six bird species, including game birds and raptors, were 

 observed on the Greenleaf-Miller study area. The Cooper's hawk, 

 golden eagle, bald eagle, prairie falcon, peregrine falcon, upland 

 sand piper, clay-colored sparrow and Brewer's sparrow were listed 

 bv Plath (1981) as species of special interest or concern. The 

 golden eagle, bald eagle, prairie falcon and peregrins falcon are 

 also listed as migratory birds of high federal interest (U.S. D.I. 

 1979). These species, except the bald eagle and peregrins falcon, 

 known or suspected to breed in the study area. 



A total of 1117 breeding bird observations (Table 4l) were made 

 along approximately 20 miles of trail (Figure 5^) during the 

 soring breeding bird roadside surveys. Only six species had a 

 composition percentage greater than 3.0. They were, from the 

 most to least common, western meadowlark, cliff swallow, lark 

 bunting, lark sparrow, mourning dove and yellow warbler. The 

 western meadowlark, with a 9^% frequency of occurrence among the 

 stops, was by far the most common. Large flocks of cliff 

 swallows and lark buntings resulted in their appearance at the 

 top of the composition ratings. Ten additional species had 

 composition percentages greater than 2.0. They included the red- 

 winged blackbird, house wren, eastern kingbird, vesper sparrow, 

 rufous-sided towhee, pinyon Jay, ring-necked pheasant, American 

 robin, chipping sparrow and Brewer's sparrow. All of these, except 

 the pinyon Jay, had frequency percentages greater than 11/J. 

 The only other species with a frequency percentage greater than 

 10 were the western wood peewee and brown-headed cowbird. 



Raptors 



Ten species of hawks and one species of owls were observed on 

 the Greenleaf-Miller study area (Table 40). Spring observations, 

 which coincide with the breeding season, are shown in Figure 55 

 All other raptor observations are shown in Figure 56 



Two Cooper's hawks were observed. Both were single birds in 

 flight. One observation was in May 198O along Rosebud Creek and 

 the other was in April I98I along Lay Creek. While no nests were 

 found, both of these birds were possibly part of a nesting pair. 

 No other accioiters were seen on the study area. 



Four buteo species were observed; red-tailed hawk, rough-legged 

 hawk, golden eagle and bald eagle. The red-tailed hawk was by 



