From Cindy's alert:
 >Trees also provide habitat for hawks and other predators that prey on
grassland birds.<

My comments:
Raptor specialists in Iowa have been campaigning for several years to change
the mindset of the land managers, regarding red-tailed hawks.  A few years
ago the raptor specialists produced a poster showing the diet of red-tails.
The title of their poster is "Don't get caught believing that hawks are
eating all the game birds!"

There is a graphic showing that 75% of their diet is small mammals, 16% is
invetebrates, 6% is reptiles/amphibians, and only 2% is birds.

The poster was sponsored by Iowa DNR, Iowa Women in Natural Resources, Iowa
Falconer's, Iowa Wildlife Rehabilitators, Macbride Raptor Project, etc.

This is the first time I have heard a claim that hawks are eating "grassland
birds".  The claim is usually that they are eating baby ducks.  However,
mice and snakes, etc. eat eggs and mice also compete with birds for weed
seeds. According to the poster, mice are the main ingredient in a red-tailed
hawk's diet.

It would have been nice to have that sentence changed to delete the
reference to hawks.  I hope that anyone sending a message about the issue at
Union Slough will refrain from mentioning that hawks eat grassland birds.

The reason for the campaign to educate land managers and the public about
raptors, especially red-tailed hawks, is because of continued illegal
shooting of these birds.

Thanks to Cindy for providing all of the information about the Union Slough
project.

Jane Clark


----- Original Message -----
From: Cindy Hildebrand
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Friday, February 07, 2003 7:10 PM
Subject: Union Slough prairies urgently need your help!

Many of the trees are growing on or next to native prairie remnants with
conservative plant species.   Such remnants are rare in Iowa.   Trees shade
and kill prairie plants.   Trees also provide habitat for hawks and other
predators that prey on grassland birds.   Grassland birds are declining
faster than any other group of birds in North America.   They desperately
need sizeable areas of treeless grassland, which are now rare in Iowa.

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