Insect Diets Insects supplement or make up the major part of the diets of many birds from small perching birds to raptors. Here at the Draper Museum Raptor Experience (https://centerofthewest.org/explore/greater-yellowstone-natural-history/raptor-experience) we care for 11 non-releasable birds. Of these, insects make up a major or minor portion of 7 of our species’ diets. Swainson’s Hawks eat […]
How Northern Harriers are Similar to Owls A Northern Harrier flies low over the grasslands with a flock of Red-winged Blackbirds following it. Commonly mobbed by blackbirds, sparrows, starlings, swallows, kestrels, Short-eared Owls, Sharp-shinned Hawks, and other birds, the raptor decides the annoying harassers are too swift and maneuverable to put out the effort of […]
Morality of Surviving In a letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin revealed that he wished the Bald Eagle had not been chosen as our national symbol. His reasoning was that its practice of stealing prey from other birds gave it a “bad moral character.” He felt the Bald Eagle was just too lazy to hunt […]
Here in Wyoming the average December low temperature is 17 degrees Fahrenheit. Add wind and you will have sub-zero wind chill temperatures. Yet many of our birds do not migrate to warmer climates. Others, such as Rough-legged Hawks even migrate into our area in the winter. We think of Robins as being the bird that […]
Whether you are a bird watcher or not, you have probably seen a larger bird being harassed by one or more smaller birds. This behavior is called “mobbing” and you may be wondering why the larger bird doesn’t defend itself. You are not alone. Many species will swoop and chase flying or perched birds larger […]
Did you know that many birds can see in ultraviolet light? The capability of UV vision was first documented in pigeons in the early 1970s. The National Wildlife Federation states, “With the exception of night-flying birds such as owls, the eyes of most birds probably are even more sensitive to ultraviolet light than they are […]