Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
UINTA BASIN -- It means "rust colored" in Latin, and true to the name, the habitat of the Ferruginous Hawk seems to be rusting away.
Development and human activity have caused Utah's population of this raptor to drop significantly. In 2010, only 2 breeding sites were active in the Uinta Basin, which covers an area south of the Uinta Mountains and east of the Wasatch range.
In order to combat this decline, the Utah Division of Wildlife Services and Utah Wildlife in Need have partnered with several energy companies in order to create new breeding sites which will, hopefully, allow for effective coexistence between these hawks and humans.
Rocky Mountain Power has funded the construction of 15 tall poles designed to act as breeding sites for Ferruginous Hawks. This is in addition to six built by Questar and another two provided by Moon Lake Resort.
Two of these poles are already popular breeding sites with the hawks.
The Newfield Foundation, run by the Newfield Exploration Company, and oil and gas company from Houston, has funded an ongoing study of about 400 natural breeding sites to allow researchers to track population and breeding practices.
If these new poles work, it could show that it is possible for the raptors and humans to live in close proximity without disturbing the hawk's notoriously sensitive breeding cycle.
