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<br />- Three species of accipiters (goshawk, Cooper's hawk, <br /> sharp-shinned hawk) are year-round residents in the Williams ;. <br /> Fork Mountains. The abundance and specific distribution <br />.i7 of these three raptors is poorly known for the Williams _ <br />~. <br />,: Fork Mountains, <br />and it is not passible to determine whether ~ <br />:.. <br />... . <br />these species regularly occur on the study site. However <br />a Z <br /> , <br />Cooper`s hawk was seen on the study site; it is probably the <br /> only one of these three act ipitors which would breed on the ~? <br /> site. , ~' <br /> Marsh hawks are year-round residents in the 47i11iams `~ <br /> Fork Mountains; one was seen on the study site and several ~` <br /> were seen in the vicinity during October. Since marsh haorks <br /> require moist habitats, such as wet meadows for breeding, - <br /> <br />they do not utilize the study site for nesting. ~~ <br /> Golden eagles are year-round residents in the regicn <br /> and utilize nearby sandstone cliffs for nes= sites. An <br /> active eagle nest is located in Hayden Gulch, two miles ,! <br /> south of th.^_ study site. Sandstone outcroppings west of ~^` <br /> the study site across Hayden Gulch are potentially good <br />~ <br /> nesting locations for eagles. <br /> Prairie falcons are occasionally reported during <br /> <br />the fall migration in the Hayden area. However, none r, <br />!~. <br /> have been sighted in the close vicinity of the study site ._ ~ <br /> American kestrels were observed on the study site and <br /> probably occur regularly in the area. Althouch these ~ <br /> <br />small falcons do migrate, a residual population winters . ~ <br />~• in the area. Kestrel"s are cavity nesters and recuire <br />- large trees for breeding. Due to the small stature of r <br /> the trees on the site, it is unlikely that kestrels nest <br /> on the study site. • <br /> 2.5.4 Galliformes (Grouse and related upland name birds) ~. <br /> Three species of grouse occur in the Williams ~~ <br /> Fork Mountains. Blue grouse and sage grouse were seen <br /> on the study site and a sharp-tailed grouse breeding area <br /> is reported for Hayden Divide, less than a mile from the <br /> <br />study site (Rogers, 1969). All three species o° grouse ; <br /> are game birds in Colorado and as such are managed by the <br /> Division of Wildlife. , <br /> <br /> Sage grouse reach their highest densities in open <br /> stands of sagebrush with a dense mid-grass cover (Rogers, <br /> 1964). Sagebrush occurs on the study site in closed •F <br /> stands mired with snowberry and serviceberry, and copse- 6 <br /> auently furnishes suboptimal .sage arouse habitat. Present `a <br />r <br /> ~ <br /> .~ <br /> -48- <br />