By JOHN TRUMBO, TRI-CITY HERALD JUNIPER DUNES, Wash. — Sneaking up on the nest of a ferruginous hawk begins about a half-mile away. Alert and sharp-eyed, the largest raptor in the hawk family is wary of intruders and will flush without warning. So Jason Lowe, a biologist with the Bureau of Land Management’s Eastern Washington office in Spokane, advanced carefully through the Juniper Dunes while scanning the clear desert sky for anything on the wing. His target was a 40-foot tall juniper tree known to have harbored a hawk nest for several years. There was an urgency for Lowe in stalking these raptors. Ferruginous hawks, a threatened species in Washington, are at their lowest counts since field surveying began 30 years ago, he said. And one state raptor specialist said further population declines could force wildlife officials to request that ferruginous hawks be classified a state endangered species. The hawks, which can be mistaken for an eagle because their wingspan can reach 4 feet or more, prefer the desert and open grasslands. Jackrabbits and small mammals like ground squirrels make up their diet, so the Mid-Columbia shrub-steppe offers ideal nesting territory. But studies indicate that habitat is declining, along with the hawk population. Lowe conducted two field surveys this spring and summer, which confirmed what he feared: The hawks are fewer and farther between. Where there were 17 nesting pairs in 1987 in the Juniper Dunes area of Franklin County, only four were spotted last year and just one this year. “The biggest problem is loss of habitat,” Lowe said as he led the way along a dusty ranch road toward that single known hawk nest. …
Threatened hawks at lowest counts in decades
