Birds of prey are all flesh eaters. All take
live prey except for the vulture, which
lives on carrion (dead decaying flesh).
They all have a curved, sharp, strong
bill for tearing flesh, and feet with
strong curved talons. Each bird is
representative of a different family
except the two eagles.
The bald eagle is our national bird. IT is
listed as endangered. This means that
something must be done to protect it or all
bald eagles may die off or be killed. The
bald eagle winters in western Utah valley
where it mostly eats jackrabbits. In summer
the bald eagle nests in the northern United
States, Canada, and Alaska. Its main
summer dish is fish, which it either catches
itself or steals from ospreys, or fish hawks.
It is darker in color than the golden eagle
and has a white head and neck. It makes an
imposing symbol for our nation.
Many golden eagles nest in the mountains
of Utah. Golden eagles are large, dark
brown birds. Their heads and the back of
their necks are golden-colored. They have a
white patch at the base of their tails. The
females are larger than the males. Golden
eagles eat mostly jackrabbits, gophers, and
small rodents. The golden eagle is
considered the king of the birds with a wing
spread exceeding seven feet and a weight of
over eighteen pounds. Golden eagles have
been hunted and many of them killed
during the last few years.
This bird of prey has a wing spread of about
four and one half feet. It feeds entirely on
meat. It is about the most savage of the birds
of prey. They can be found in orchards at
night throughout Utah. This owl does not
make its own nest, but father takes over the
nest of a hawk, a hollow tree or log. When
hungry they will kill and eat practically
anything that moves which is small enough
to handle. The bird is a quick flier, which
makes the approach of death a complete
surprise to many of its victims. Their hooting
sound carries long distances and when up
close resembles the cooing of a dove. Females
are larger than males.
This is one of the fine birds men kill because it
has the name “hawk”. They may be seen sailing
overhead in many of our valleys, with a
wingspread of four feet. These hawks mate for
life unless one of the pair dies. They are found
nesting on a high cliff or tall tree where they can
see around the whole area. They will rotate
between nests, two or three of them, year after
year. Both male and female incubate the young.
The young sound like a litter of pigs. They eat
rodents and snakes. They are very shy birds. The
characteristic marking is the reddish-orange on
the tail.
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Falcons are streamlined hawks with long
pointed wings, large heads, and tails that
narrow at the tip. They are rapid on the wing
with direct, choppy powerful flight. The
peregrine is a rare local bird found in our
mountains and rarely in our valleys. Its
markings are a dark cap and white facial
pattern. Flight is fast and the falcon rarely soars.
It preys almost entirely on other birds. They are
endangered because man uses them as hunters
in a sport called “falconry”. They can be trained
to kill other birds for the hunter.
These game birds are called such because
they are fair play game to the holder of a
license. They are all very good to eat and are
found in fine restaurants and on expensive
menus. Each of these game birds are in a
different family.
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This pheasant is originally from Russia, Japan,
and China. The pheasant runs fast and can fly
up to 48 miles an hour. They usually only fly a
few hundred yards, unless they really get
scared, then they will fly up to two miles. The
enemies of the pheasant include men, skunks
and cats. Sometimes snakes are their enemies,
too. They nest on the ground and lay up to 20
eggs in the nest. They eat seeds and grain,
along with grasshoppers.
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Pheasants were first introduced into Utah in
1895, near SLC. They are a very hardy bird,
withstanding the harsh winters and hot
summers very well.
Thousands of them can be found dotting the
grain fields during the fall of the year in some
areas. Many are killed in the fall hunt, but they
replenish themselves each year. When the
skunk or magpie population gets high, the
pheasants diminish. This is because both the
skunk and magpie eat pheasant eggs.
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The California quail live in flocks of 40 to 50
birds called coveys. Each covey has a guard or
scout. If all is clear, the scout gives a low call
and the other birds of the covey will go into the
open to feed on seeds and plants. Another
guard goes ahead and will warn the others if
danger appears. Quail most often live in
oakbrush. They lay between 10 to 17 eggs in a
nest. The young birds follow the parents
around often in single file. After quail have
been killed and prepared for food they are
called squab.
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Dove’s nests are very simple—usuallly just af ew
sticks in a tree. Each brood is made up of several
birds, and a pair of doves may have two or three
broods in a year. Males help incubate the eggs
during the day, and the female will incubate them
at night. Young doves leave their nests after just
two weeks. The main food of the dove is seeds.
They also eat snails and beetles to make hard
material to grind seeds. Since they eat such dry
food, they dring water frequently. Doves migrate
south for the winter. The reason they are called
mourning doves is because of their mournful
cooing
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The mallard duck is a migrating bird.
Sometimes it will return north as early as
February. The male is called a drake. These
ducks pair off at the end of their migration and
begin to nest in May. They build their nests in
thick weeds near water. They line the nest with
down (soft tiny feathers). They lay 8 to 10 eggs
each year. These hatch in 26 days. After they
hatch, the drake leaves the nest, where the
females raise the young. The main diet of the
mallard is plant life, but they also eat some
insects.
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This large goose with a 5 foot wing span is
found in Utah during the fall. They can fly over
30 miles a day as they migrate from Canada to
the warmer southlands. They pair up for life.
Their nests are usually built on the ground but
have been found in trees and cliffs. When
feeding as a flock these geese always have
sentinels watching. They eat grasses and seeds
but sometimes eat small water animals. They
are considered very intelligent by hunters.
They fly in a loose “V” formation. The
characteristic marking it the white chinstrap.
The magpie, crow, and jay are cousins in the same
family. You will notice they all have the same sort
of bill and feet. They are suited for scavenging and
cleaning carrion, providing a service to us all. The
only real problem is that they eat anything,
including smaller bird’s eggs,, farmer’s crops and
grain. The seagulls provide a real service by eating
harmful insects. They are all protected by law
because of the service they provide. If a farmer
signs a complaint, they can be hunted and killed.
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The magpie doesn’t fly well and depends on
ground-dwelling insects. To escape its enemies
it must stay around thick bushy areas. It
usually builds its nest along streams. The nest
is very interesting, being made of sticks and
thorny twigs. It is about one foot in diameter
and two feet high. The food of magpies is eggs
from other nests (pheasants, meadowlarks,
robins, etc.) They are actually scavengers and
will eat decaying matter of all kinds, including
farmers’ crops, which makes the farmers mad.
Some people consider their black and white
markings very beautiful. They can be taught to
talk since they have the ability to imitate.
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Crows are a close relative to the magpie. They
can usually be seen in Utah during the winter
months. In Utah County crows spread across
the valley floor looking for food during the
day. At night they roost on the shore of Utah
Lake. Crows eat just about anything including
robbing the nests of other birds. They are
considered to be one of the most intelligent of
the birds. This is the reason that in some areas
where they do great damage they are very hard
to get rid of. They are also used in may
legends and fables.
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The Stellar’s jay is found in our local canyons.
It has a definite crest of feathers on its dark
brown head. It has many names, including
“camp robber”. It gets its name because it
frequents camps “robbing” scraps of food. The
jay has a jay, jay, jay sound. It is a member of
the same family as the magpie and the crow.
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The California Gull is probably the most
commonly recognized scavenger bird in Utah.
It is seen as farmers plow their fields. It will be
found at any garbage dump. They really aren’t
California gulls at all since they nest here in
Utah. The young birds do go to California for
their first winter. This is the same bird that the
early pioneers credited with saving their crops
from the cricket plague. Hence the bird of Utah
is the California seagull. There is a monument
built on Mormon Temple Square in SLC to this
bird.
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The turkey vulture also goes by the names
carrion crow or turkey buzzard. They grow to
about 2 ½ feet long with a wing span of 6 feet.
The turkey vulture is ugly to last degree except
in flight. They are famous for their majestic
flight and their marvelously keen eyesight. By
making perfect use of air currents they will
mount for thousands of feet and soar for hours
at a time. They live chiefly upon dead decaying
flesh and only very rarely will attack anything
alive if it is dying of disability. They are mainly
in southern Utah.
This group is especially notable for their
beautiful songs. They also have
beautiful plumage and colors, which
makes them desirable to have around.
This category of house birds simply
means these are birds that like to nest
close to a home when possible. Robins,
for example, love to look for worms in a
lawn. These birds are all from different
families except the bluebird and robin.