Wyoming’s Ucross Ranch: Its Birds, History, and Natural Environment

Abstract

This book profiles 60 of the most abundant, characteristic, and interesting birds that have been regularly reported from the Ucross Ranch and the adjacent Powder River Basin. The 20,000-acre Ucross Ranch lies on the western edge of the Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming. Ucross is a textbook example of the prairie grassland/shrubland habitat type referred to as the sagebrush steppe, a landscape that is an icon of Wyoming’s vast open spaces. We focus especially on those species that occur year-round or are present as breeders during the summer months, and we place emphasis on a unique group of sagebrush steppe–adapted birds. We provide information on each profiled species’ identification, voice, status, and habitats. “Identification” describes its important visual characteristics (field marks), “voice” provides information on its songs and calls, “status” indicates its relative regional and seasonal abundance, and “habitats and ecology” provides a brief description of its behavior and environmental adaptations. Each species profile also has a calendar of average weekly seasonal occurrence based on long-term regional records. An introductory essay describes the early history of the Ucross Ranch, which is followed by essays on the natural environment and habitats of the ranch, including the characteristic sagebrush steppe and its associated bird species. The 22,000-word text is supplemented with 60 color bird photographs, a map of the vegetation communities in the Great Plains, and a Bird Checklist of the Ucross Ranch.