Iron Gate Cave Gets a New Gate
Deep in the hills of Delaware County, a small cave waits for spring's return of migrating gray bats. Biologists took steps this winter to make the cave safer for the endangered bats by installing a gate at the mouth of the cave. (Though named "Iron Gate," the cave hasn't been protected by a gate in recent history.)
Get an update from the Iron Gate Work Day
Species Spotlight: Harris's Sparrow
Frequent visitors of woodland edges, weedy fields and rural bird feeders, the Harris's Sparrow is easily recognized by the bold, black face mask that extends to the chest. Some biologists estimate that 20 percent of the entire Harris's Sparrow population winters in Oklahoma.
Learn more in the Wildlife Department's Field Guide
Three Nest Box Must Haves
Adding a nest box to your backyard is a great way to
introduce your family to nature and help birds. But does your nest box have
what it takes to be successful?
Find three nest box must haves and learn more about the Oklahoma Nest Box Trails Program
Surveying the Open Spaces of the Mixed-grass Prairie
Wintering sparrows and raptors love the large tracts of
native grass intermixed with plum thickets and sand sagebrush found at the
Cimarron Hills and Cimarron Bluff Wildlife Management Areas, and that’s where the
Wildlife Department completed its most recent wildlife inventory.
To survey the sprawling prairie, the Wildlife Diversity
Program and volunteers from the Oklahoma City Zoo and Botanical Gardens walked
along frozen creeks, across hills thick with grass, and drove along sandy WMA
roads, documenting the variety of birds and mammals that winter on the two
areas.
Thirty-two species of birds, including eight types of
sparrows and five different species of raptors were documented during the three-day
survey. American tree sparrows were one of the most frequently encountered
species of the survey, often seen perching on fence lines and in plum thickets.
Also spotted were three porcupines, 22 northern harriers and a roosting barn
owl.
Additional surveys of the two areas, with a special focus on
species of greatest conservation need, will continue throughout the year.
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