165 



Non.g;ame birds: Species composition of songbirds observed during 

 roadside inventory surveys is presented in Table 87. Location 

 of songbird Inventory route stops is illustrated in Figure 8I. 

 Similar to the Poster Creek study area, meadowlarks made up 

 approximately 3055 of all birds observed. Meadowlarks, vesper 

 sparrows and Brewer's black birds together made up 30% of the 

 species composition. These data are probably biased in favor of 

 species having the most conspicuous habits and loudest songs. 



Raptors : Twelve species of raptors were observed on the Sand 

 Creek study area. Secretive species such as screech owls and 

 saw-whet owls probably occur on the area, but were not observed 

 during the study period. 



For the purpose of identifying resident breeding birds, raptor 

 distribution was mapped as follows: Birds observed during the 

 months of May, June and July were considered resident breeders 

 (Figure 82). All other raptor observations were recorded on a 

 separate distribution map, including migrant and transient birds 

 (Figure 83). 



Acclplters : A Cooper's hawk was seen in the spring of 198I and 

 considered a migrant . 



Buteos : Red-tailed hawks were the most commonly observed raptor 

 on the study area. One active nest was found during the 1981 

 spring raptor survey (Table 88). 



Swainson's hawks were observed several times during migration periods, 

 Rough-legged hawks were also observed during migration. 



Ferruginous hawks were observed on the study area in spring of 

 1980 and 1981, but were absent during summer. They may have made 

 unsuccessful nesting attempts. A ferruginous hawk nest located 

 in the southeast portion of the study area is in good repair 

 and probably has been used in recent years. Numerous older 

 ferruginous hawk nests are found on knolls and knobs in the 

 vicinity of the southeast corner of the study area. 



Golden eagles were frequently seen on the study area and an 

 active nest was found in a ponderosa pine tree during the 198I 

 spring raptor survey (Table 88). It fell from the tree during 

 a wind storm in June. 



Harriers ; Marsh hawks are very common on the study area. No 

 nests were found although it was evident that there were several 

 breeding pairs present. 



Falcons : Kestrels were seen fairly commonly. Prairie falcons 

 were observed during the breeding season as well as migration, 

 but suitable nesting habitat is hot found on the study area. 



Three pairs of merlins nested on the area in 198O (Table 88). 

 All three pairs utilized magpie nests in Donderosa pine trees. 

 One of these nests fledged a single young; however, production 

 data for the other two nests was not obtained. No nesting activity 



