Predatory Birds
The few junipers that dot the Boardman Conservation Area (BCA) provide essential nesting habitat for many predatory bird species, including great horned owls, Swainson’s hawks, red-tailed hawks, and common ravens. Among the rarest and most sensitive to disturbance are ferruginous hawks, which require large tracts of unbroken habitat to successfully nest. TNC regularly monitors the diversity and abundance of nesting raptors on the BCA.
Loggerhead shrikes are unusual among songbirds for being largely predatory. Shrikes are famous for their habit of impaling prey – anything from grasshoppers to lizards to sparrows – on sharp objects such as branches or barbed wire to store for later consumption. Loggerhead shrikes are of special concern in Oregon, and require intact shrub-steppe habitat. Loggerhead shrikes are one of the key species monitored by TNC on the BCA.
Recent reports on nesting raptors and loggerhead shrikes are available on the right Resources panel.
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