Grasshoppers are not typical prey for Prairie Falcons. Studies indicate that the main foods taken are other birds (Horned Larks and meadowlarks are favorites), small mammals and lizards but in a pinch they do consume flying insects, including grasshoppers. This bird was intent on doing just that.
I’ve seldom seen parental duties so enthusiastically and evenly shared as in this mated pair of Williamson’s Sapsuckers.
Starlings, cowbirds and even magpies have an interesting relationship with the bison on Antelope Island.
Yesterday morning this Western Meadowlark surprised me and gave me an intimate glimpse into its world.
I don’t often have opportunities with Peregrine Falcons in flight but this bird changed my fortunes for the better.
Mountain Plovers are uncommon throughout their range and rare in Utah but I’ve had my moment in the sun with them and it was an experience I’ll never forget.
When it comes to diet Western Grebes are fish specialists but they’re opportunistic enough to take a variety of prey, including crustaceans.
When food is plentiful raptors take advantage of the situation. Tomorrow things might be different.
This juvenile Red-tailed Hawk had a fine, furry, Farmington feast for breakfast this morning.
Black-billed Magpies feed primarily on carrion, ground-dwelling arthropods and seeds. But yesterday morning I photographed a magpie with an apparent kill, a vole.
Yesterday morning was my first experience with an Accipiter preying on rodents instead of the small birds that they’re best known for eating.
Some falcons, hawks and owls have two ocelli (eye-like patches or “false eyes”) on the back of their head. Their function may not be as presumed.
I typically go about 10 months of the year without seeing Barn Owls flying in daylight but when snow and extremely cold temperatures arrive they’re often forced to hunt during daytime in order to obtain enough food to survive.
Dark-eyed Juncos are a common winter feeder species but I prefer to photograph them in as natural a setting as possible.
