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These dynamics create a mosaic of older, middle-aged and young trees. The mark of a healthy cottonwood ecosystem? Young trees filling in abandoned stream channels and newly fonned sandbars, to replace older trees as they die. Wherever they are found, ripari- an cottonwood forests are the most important habitat in the state for the most bird species. The Yampa and its tributaries are oases amid vast areas of rangeland and agricultural lands. Ilirds, including many species of ducks, hawks, eagles, songbirds and the sandhill crane, use its riparian areas as resting spots during migra- tion. Others, such as Canada geese, nest on islands and streambanks, then rear young in adjacent wet meadows. The cottonwoods are especially important for insect-eating and seed- eating birds: vireos, warblers, orioles, blackbirds, grosbeaks, finches and ny- catchers...as well as cavity-nesting birds such as woodpeckers and mer- ganser ducks-whether they spend all year in the Yampa Valley or winter far- ther south. And raptors-from golden eagles and prairie falcons to Cooper's hawks, American kestrels, great- horned owls, long-eared owls and even peregrine falcons-nest and feed along the river, its forests and its cliffs. Just how many kinds of birds use the river? Estimates are that around 125 species depend on the Yampa's ripari- an areas for at least part of the year, every year. Wherever they are found, Colorado's riparian cottonwood forests are the most important habitat in the state for the greatest number of bird species. A beavcr dam (lfIl/ wi/low-alder riparia!/ wetlalld, u>ltere ServiCl' Creek eflter:i the Yampa. Photo by Kef! Proper/Proper t\posure. '''9 A h(~h-coll!JtJ)' stream, complete wilh coarse woody debris. ['floto by David Coope!: