By Jeannie Counce EBS CONTRIBUTOR
Just because
hunting season is over, it doesn’t mean you should stop watching the wonders of
Montana wildlife. In fact, the crisp blue winter skies and snow-covered
mountains are an ideal backdrop for raptor watching.
These aerial
predators—eagles, owls, hawks and falcons—are capable of fantastic in-flight
maneuvers that are more visible in the stark white winter landscape.
Since 1988,
Montana Raptor Conservation Center has been rehabilitating injured birds of
prey from across the state and educating the community on the importance of
raptors in the environment. Whether you’re carving turns on the ski hill,
crunching along on a trail or après-skiing by a big picture window, the experts
at MRCC suggest you watch for these seasonal raptor behaviors.
Look for
rough-legged hawks, which have flown south from Alaska and Canada to winter in
this area. Because they live and breed in the arctic—between latitudes of 61
and 76 degrees north—rough-legged hawks are one of the few hawk species to have
feathers down to their feet for insulation.
While up
north, these hawks feast on lemmings and nest on cliff sides. Here in the Lower
48, they can be found in open country hunting small rodents.
“The weather
influences how long they stay, but rough-legged hawks usually begin heading
back to the tundra sometime in March,” said MRCC Director Becky Kean.
Gyrfalcons
are another arctic species that sometimes make their way to Montana for the
winter. The largest falcon in the world, the gyrfalcon is as fast as a peregrine,
but is silvery white with black spotting. They can also appear in shades of
gray and dark brown.
“Their
hunting areas and diet are similar to the rough-legged hawk, but their hunting
style is typically to spot prey in flight or from a high perch and strike from
above, driving it to the ground,” MRCC’s Assistant Director Jordan Spyke said.
“You can also see them perched on the ground.”
The ultimate
winter migrant is the snowy owl, according to Kean. “People love to spot these
beautiful, curiously white owls, but they can be elusive,” she said. Their
appearance here depends on several factors, including their population and that
of their food source—lemmings and ptarmigan—as well as weather patterns.
“Usually,
the first-year birds make the trip south while older birds stay on the tundra,”
Kean explained. “So, when we see snowy owls, they are young and pretty green.”
That inexperience can get them into trouble.
“They’re not
used to humans, and don’t realize the danger of things like moving cars. We’ve
treated a few snowy owls over the years, but they don’t do well in captivity,”
Kean said. “As magnificent as they are, I’d rather see one out in the wild than
up-close in the hospital setting.”
The heaviest
North American owl—great grays are taller, but lighter—snowy owls are white
with piercing yellow eyes and a thick white mustache. Both young males and
females have black or brown markings, but the patterns are usually heavier on
the females, making them look more variegated. Like rough-legged hawks, snowy
owls have feathered feet, which make them look wide and sturdy at the base.
They often perch on rises on the ground, hay bales and fence posts, and fly
close to the ground.
There is no
shortage of bald eagles in southwest Montana this time of year, according to
Spyke. “They are pretty easy to spot and never disappoint,” he said. Bald
eagles congregate near flowing water, so watch for them near rivers, streams
and dams.
“This is
also a good time to scout out eagle nests because there are no leaves on the
trees,” Spyke said. “The nests are gigantic—5 to 6 feet in diameter and 2 to 4
feet deep—so they are easy to spot. Remember these locations and watch for
young fledglings in flight training this spring.”
A version
of this article first appeared in the Jan. 6, 2017, edition of EBS.
Jeannie
Counce is a Bozeman-based writer and editor. She is a board member of the
nonprofit Montana Raptor Conservation Center, which has a mission to improve
the welfare of raptors across Montana through rehabilitation of injured birds,
community education and partnerships for raptor conservation and research.
