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prevent disturbance and abandonment. During all field studies, biolo- <br />• gists recorded every observation of raptors and their nests. Specific <br />searches for nests were conducted on 17 April; 15, 16, and 17 May; and <br />2, 13, 14, 26, 27, and 28 June. Nest searches were concentrated in <br />areas with trees capable of supporting raptor nests (i.e. aspen <br />(Pooulus tremuloides] groves and mesic drainages). Those areas were <br />thoroughly searched by biologists on foot. Productivity could be <br />determined at some nests in June. However, productivity at most nests <br />was measured on 1T, 18, or 19 July. The location of each nest found <br />was plotted on 1" to 2000' topographic maps; the status of nests was <br />recorded in field notes. <br />BREEDING BIRDS <br />Surveys to document the occurrence and abundance of birds, pri- <br />• marily breeding passerines, were conducted in June in the four princi- <br />pal habitats in the wildlife survey area: aspen, mountain brush, <br />sagebrush, and bottomland. Two census plots were established in each <br />of those habitats. Survey plots in aspen, mountain brush, and sage- <br />brush were circular, with a 100-meter radius. Surveyor's flagging was <br />placed SOm and t00m from the center point of each plot. Bottomland <br />habitat was too narrow to allow use of circular plots. Consequently, <br />two belt transacts were established in this habitat. Each transact <br />was 1000m long and SOm wide. <br />Breeding bird surveys were conducted on three consecutive morn- <br />ings: 12, 13, and 14 June. Surveys were started between dawn and <br />sunrise, and were completed within three hours of sunrise. To reduce <br />• <br />5 <br />