[Birdtalk] FW: Raptor behavior during snow cover.

[Kristin Purdy]

Fred,

Northern Harriers, the most common raptors at The Great Salt Lake Shorelands 
Preserve during most of the year, are known to follow prescribed routes like 
fencerows, borders of vegetation and ditches while hunting. Your canal is 
probably a similar feature. Both this particular raptor and owls use their 
acute hearing to hunt especially rodents. I don't doubt that a blanket of 
snow deadens the noise that potential prey makes, necessitating the lower 
hunting altitudes that you've witnessed.

Kris
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Utah Birds
  To: birdtalk list
  Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 6:57 PM
  Subject: [Birdtalk] FW: Raptor behavior during snow cover.



        Birdnet Email -- from the website

         It was submitted by Fred Edwards on Wednesday, December 24, 2008 at 
12:47:00
         ---------------------------------------------------------------------------


        Subject: Raptor behavior during snow cover.

        Email_Address: annakare at gmail.com

        Message: The back of my house in west Kaysville faces southwest 
looking over part of the Great Salt Lake Shore lands Preserve. We see hawks 
and other raptors throughout the year but when snow covers the ground for 
more than a week we begin to see hawks and owls more frequently. They fly 
along the irrigation canal that borders our property. They fly quite low, 10 
to 15 feet above the canal bottom. I assume that it is a more successful 
hunting strategy when the fields are snow covered. Can anyone confirm this 
as a known winter behavior of raptors?

        Fred Edwards






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