Areas of conservation of animal in North América Area of conservation of Ferruginous hawk Area of conservation of the burrowing owl Area of conservation of black-tailed prairie dog Area of conservation of the Monarch butterfly

Ferruginous hawk
Buteo regalis

Description
The Ferruginous Hawk is the largest North American member of the Buteo genus, which also includes the more familiar Red-tailed Hawk. It occurs in both light and dark morphs, with the light morph being more common. It has a pale head, a white chest, and its tail is a mixture of pale rust and white or gray. The reddish feathers on its back and legs, for which it is named, are conspicuous next to the pale background of its belly and tail. The wings are long, broad, and pointed, and in flight appear light-colored on the underside. Males and females of the species have similar markings, but the female may be up to one-and-a-half times larger.

Habitat
Ferruginous Hawks inhabit open country, primarily prairies, plains and badlands, sagebrush, saltbush-greasewood shrubland, and desert. They favor landscapes with availability of perches such as poles, lone trees, knolls, rocky outcrops or large boulders. Their hunting techniques are adapted to these landscapes—they often take long, low flights close to the ground. This makes them difficult to see, despite their large size, and gives them the ability to quickly strike unsuspecting small prey. The Ferruginous Hawk's diet is made up of ground squirrels, as well as jackrabbits, voles, mice and prairie dogs.

Range
Year-round, Ferruginous Hawks may be found in the southern Rockies and southwestern Great Plains. Breeding takes them north, to the southern portions of the prairie provinces of Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba) and throughout the northern Rockies and western Great Plains. From October through April, they move south to their winter range on the southern Great Plains west to California and into central Mexico and Baja California.

Threats
The loss of grasslands over the last century due to conversion for agricultural purposes, development or other uses caused an extensive reduction in the Ferruginous Hawk’s range. Lack of suitable nesting sites also appears to be a cause of decline for this species, as well as the widespread control of prairie dogs and Richardson's ground squirrels. Ferruginous Hawks are also easily disturbed by human activity, particularly during the nesting period. Other threats include human hunting and the natural succession of northern grassland habitats to forests. The provision of artificial nesting platforms, public education about prairie dog control, and the elimination of human disturbance are strategies being used to increase the Ferruginous Hawk population.

Burrowing owl
Athene cunicularia

Description
The Burrowing Owl is a small ground-dwelling owl. Its head is round with no ear tufts and its face is distinguished by white eyebrows, bright yellow eyes and a prominent white chin stripe. The owl's back and upper wing parts are sandy colored and the barred chest and belly are creamy white. This species can be distinguished from all other small owls by its long legs. They are also readily distinguished in flight due to their irregular, jerky wing beats that are interspersed with long glides. Burrowing Owls are easy to spot because they are often active in daylight and are surprisingly bold and approachable.

Habitat
Burrowing Owls are found in open, dry grasslands, agricultural and range lands, and desert habitats in association with burrowing mammals such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels and badgers. They commonly perch on fence posts or on top of mounds outside the burrow. While Burrowing Owls can dig, they usually occupy burrows abandoned by other animals. The female incubates a clutch of 4-10 eggs, while the male hunts to provide food to her and the nestlings. A significant portion the Burrowing Owl’s diet consists of large insects, such as beetles and grasshoppers, and small mammals, especially mice, voles, and ground squirrels. However, they have a diverse overall diet, taking scorpions, reptiles, amphibians, bats, small birds, and even fruit and seeds in the southern part of their range.

Range
The Burrowing Owl is distributed discontinuously throughout the grasslands region of North America. It breeds from southern Alberta eastward to southern Manitoba, and southward through the United States and into Mexico. It winters from the southwestern United States into Central America. A significant proportion of Burrowing Owls are found in California in winter months, with the largest population in the Imperial Valley, and other smaller populations in the Central Valley, and along the southern coast and in the San Francisco Bay Area. A second, non-migratory subspecies of North American Burrowing Owl is found in Florida and the Bahamas.

Threats
Burrowing Owls have declined throughout their entire range in Canada and the United States. Although Mexico is an important wintering area for migratory owls, their status there is unknown. Intensified land use, primarily the conversion of grasslands for agricultural purposes, results in widespread loss and fragmentation of nesting habitat and is believed to be a major contributor to population decline. Prairie dog eradication programs and human pesticide use may also play an important role in reducing the availability of prey and reproductive success.

For more detailed information on this species or for information on the conservation of biodiversity in North America, please visit these websites:

Black-tailed prairie dog
Cynomys ludovicianus

Monarch butterfly
Danaus plexippus

Description
The monarch butterfly is one of the most remarkable insects in the world, completing an annual migration of thousands of kilometers across the North American continent from Canada to Mexico. Its large wings are orange and covered with bold, black stripes surrounding two rows of white dots on the wing edges. They are distinguished from the look-alike Viceroy butterfly by their larger size and their lack of a black cross-wise stripe on the hind wing. The monarch caterpillar’s body is covered with thin crosswise stripes of black, white and yellow. The bright colors on both adult monarchs and caterpillars are thought to warn predators that they are poisonous.

Habitat
Monarch butterflies rely exclusively on milkweed plants (Asclepias species) for sites to lay their eggs and for food in the caterpillar stage. Milkweed contains a milky, poisonous sap, which, when ingested, makes monarchs toxic to predators. Eggs are laid directly on milkweed and hatch about four days later. The tiny caterpillars increase their size dramatically, shedding their skin five times and growing from 2 mm to 45 mm as they eat milkweed leaves and stems. They then spin a well-camouflaged cocoon and enter the pupal phase to change from larvae into adult butterflies. The entire process from egg to adult is completed in about thirty days. Adults do not grow, but do eat high-energy nectar from a variety of flowers to sustain themselves. Most monarchs live only about 3-5 weeks, while only the monarchs emerging in late summer complete the round-trip migration, living 8-9 months.

Range
Three populations of monarch with distinct migratory paths can be found throughout North America. The Eastern population is the largest, and includes all monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the United States. This population breeds throughout this range, and then migrates south to only twelve sites in a small area of Central Mexico. By November and December, tens of millions of butterflies have reached these high-altitude oyamel fir forests and spend the winter perched on trees and shrubs on cool, protected, south-facing slopes in an inactive state. They begin the spring migration north in February or March. The Western population makes up only about five percent of the global total and is numbered in the millions. These butterflies breed in the U.S. and Canada west of the Rocky Mountains and migrate to overwinter in pine and eucalyptus groves along the southern California coast. The Central American population ranges throughout Central America and southern Mexico, migrating only short distances from lower to higher elevations in the wet and dry seasons.

Threats
The main threat to monarchs is destruction of their overwintering habitat by development and logging activity in both Mexico and California. Winter storms and severe weather play a large role in the mortality of overwintering butterflies. Increased use of insecticides and herbicides kills both the monarch and its host plant throughout the breeding range. Monarchs are also susceptible to a protozoan parasite.

For more detailed information on this species or for information on the conservation of biodiversity in North America, please visit these websites: