| Show 1 Raptors big or little they they're Ye interesting By ny John C. C Dickerson Utah's raptors are one of ot our least leat understood and also most interesting group of ot animals Unfortunately many people class them as either big chicken hawks or little chicken hawks which pretty well tells the story But believe it or not there are many many people who hold hawks and eagles in the same high regard as the most avid hunter does for a big buck deer or a six point elk One of ot those groups is our Division We have a full full- time raptor biologist whose main job right now is inventorying the states state's rap raptors tors and keeping tabs on what is happening to the population In addition to the time full man each conservation officer in the state runs a raptor route twice a year in his these district average about 80 miles mlles in length Its It's really surprising how many of ot the different species we have in our state Including the various owls we have 26 different species that either live here year around or visit for various lengths of ot time One of the prettiest sights an out out- will encounter is seeing the eagle concentration on Pelican Lake Inthe in inthe inthe the spring when the ice is breaking up We have counted over thirty birds on this small lake eating the winter killed fish and many of these birds are mature bald eagles with their snowwhite snowwhite snow snow- white heads Its It's quite a sight to see up to ten mature bald eagles sitting in one tree you might want to mark your calendar so you will remember to make a trip out there this spring Many species of wildlife have suffered suf at the hands of man through mismanagement or ignorance and raptors are no exception A good example of this is the bounty placed on raptors in Pennsylvania in the late Approximately was paid tout lout in bounties on raptors that were said to be killing kUUng poultry The value of the poultry was estimated at 1875 The raptors killed were estimated to be worth 20 0 per year to the farmer because of the rodents and insects they ate When all the figuring was done it cost Pennsylvania some 38 million to save less than 2000 worth of poultry All raptors are protected by Utah law In fact tact all birds are protected with the exception of the English sparrow and the starling so If you cant can't identify these two birds you had better refrain from shooting at birds at all Falconry as a sport has bas been recognized for many centuries and Utah law still provides for this activity However there are stringent regulations that apply to falconry and tit the sport is both very time-consuming time and expensive and it is not for tor the run run- the mill bird lover Please checkwith check checkwith checkwith with our office or our personnel for details The Division has an excellent publication called Raptors of Utah available for the public for sale through our regional offices The book covers life Ute histories of all raptors found in the state along with many fine photos if It you are interested in wildlife this is a good bet for you |
