188 



later destroyed by predators. A brood with six young was seen In 

 Blrney In 1981. 



Turkey 



A flock of approximately 33 turkeys wintered on the Tongue River 

 .just on the edge of the study area (Figure 90). Only a few 

 scattered observations were made in the study area, mainly in 

 spring and fall. One group of six young with one hen was seen. 

 A rancher indicated that a flock of about 40 turkeys formerly 

 wintered on Cook Creek (Figure 90). This was probably the same 

 flock which now winters on the Tongue River. 



Waterfowl 



Thirteen species of waterfowl were observed on the study area 

 (Table 102). The large pond near the head of Cook Creek in the 

 northwestern corner of the study area produced three broods of 

 mallards and one brood of American wigeon in 1980. A pair of 

 Canada geese nested in the northern great blue heron rookery on 

 the Tongue River in 1980. A brood of geese was observed on the 

 Tongue River in 1981. 



Below average precipitation during the fall and winter of 1979 

 and 1980 resulted in little or no water in most of the 

 stockponds by fall of 198I. The cluster of ponds near the head 

 of Cook Creek in the northwestern corner of the study area held 

 water throughout the study period, although no broods were produced 

 on them in 198I. These ponds were used frequently in the spring 

 and fall by migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. 



Songbirds 



One hundred and eighteen species of birds including game species 

 were observed on the study area (Table 102). Eighty-seven of 

 these were either susoected or confirmed breeders on the study 

 area. This list is not thought to be complete. A number of 

 additional species were recorded durins: the baseline wildlife study 

 for the Montco mine permit application (Olson-Elliott and 

 Associates 198O). Their study area overlapped the Blrney study 

 area by about 2 square miles on the northeast corner. 



The songbird census road route (Figure 91) was run three times in 

 1980, but only once in 1981 due to bad weather, so the results 

 were combined. The vegetation along the route was approximately 

 12% sage-grassland, 22% ponderosa pine and juniper, and 6/K 

 riparian. A total of 5^6 birds and 46 soecies were observed 

 (Table 103). Western meadowlarks, chipping sparrows, vesper 

 sparrows, and lark sparrows were the most common, together making 

 up 50% of the total number of birds counted. They were also 

 observed more frequently than other species, indicating a wide- 

 spread distribution with little clumping. 



