Wild About Utah

February 22, 2016May 23, 2016

The Pygmy Rabbit: A ‘Cryptic’ Resident of the Sagebrush

Pygmy Rabbit, Brachylagus idahoesis — Pygmy Rabbit
Brachylagus idahoesis
Courtesy & Copyright 2007 Len Zeoli

Within the Intermountain West’s vast sagebrush ocean lives a tiny, furry creature that spends the majority of its time in or near a burrow of its own making. The Pygmy Rabbit, North America’s smallest member of the rabbit family, weighs about a pound and is about the size of a grapefruit.

The pint-sized mammal makes its home in sagebrush-studded areas in northern and western Utah, says Utah State University alum and National Park Service ecologist Tammy Wilson. Sagebrush provides food and cover for the rabbit and, in winter, provides 99 percent of its diet. The rabbit’s activity pattern is described as “crepuscular,” meaning that the animal is primarily active at dawn and dusk.

In addition to its petite size, the pygmy rabbit can be distinguished from cottontail rabbits and jackrabbits by its coloring and its ears. The pygmy lacks white fur on its tail; has smaller, very hairy, white-margined ears and a narrower face. Its fur ranges in color from salt and pepper gray on its back, to reddish-brown on its feet.

The Pygmy rabbit is a great example of ‘cryptic’ coloration; that is, a coloration that conceals or disguises the animal’s shape. The animal’s mottled coloring makes it virtually invisible in the shade of a sagebrush plant, which helps it to elude predators.

Pygmy rabbits produce up to three litters during a breeding season and the average litter size is six. The animals need to produce large families as they’re popular prey for a host of predators, including weasels, coyotes, badgers, bobcats, raptors, owls, badgers, foxes, along with rats, ravens and crows. Not surprisingly, the elusive animal is never far from the protection of thick brush and a maze-like network of tunnels.

Burrows

Known for their burrowing skills, Pygmy rabbits prefer loamy soils where they dig networks of tunnels with several entrances. In winter, the animals build tunnels in snow that connect to large cavities created by the weight of the snow on tall shrubs. The rabbits build the snow tunnels on top of the burrows they’ve dug in the ground.

“Everything the rabbit needs is inside,” Wilson says. “Their multi-chambered refuges provide food, protection from predators and protection from extreme cold.”

For example, on a zero-degree day in Utah’s northernmost Rich County, a pygmy rabbit in a snow tunnel enjoys a relatively balmy 32 degrees.

While ravenous predators are a hazard for pygmy rabbits, an even greater threat is shrinking habitat. As Utah’s sagelands give way to development, the tiny animal will have less food and less area for its cozy abode.

Thanks to USU’s Quinney College of Natural Resources for supporting research and development of this Wild About Utah topic.

Credits:
Images: Courtesy & Copyright 2007 Len Zeoli
Text: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, Utah State University College of Natural Resources
credit: Tammy Wilson, quantitative ecologist, National Park Service.

Additional Reading:

Pygmy Rabbits, Val Grant, https://wildaboututah.org/pygmy-rabbits/

Pygmy Rabbits, Nevada Fish & Wildlife Office, US FWS, https://www.fws.gov/nevada/nv_species/pygmy_rabbit.html

Brachylagus_idahoensis, pygmy rabbit, Animal Diversity Web, https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Brachylagus_idahoensis/

Brachylagus idahoensis (Pygmy Rabbit), The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, https://www.iucnredlist.org/details/2963/0

February 15, 2016December 13, 2025

Tiger Salamanders Ambystoma tigrinum

Tiger Salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. Courtesy Andrey Zharkikh, Photographer, licensed under CreativeCommons 2.0 — Tiger Salamander
*Ambystoma tigrinum*
Courtesy Andrey Zharkikh, Photographer
License: Creative Commons 2.0

Tiger Salamanders, named for their bold black-and-orange stripes, are Utah’s only salamander. Secretive inhabitants of our forests, streams, and lakes, these amphibians are rarely seen. Tiger Salamanders spend most of their year underground, in moist burrows beneath logs and among tree roots. They come to the surface just once a year, emerging at night in the early spring to trek across the snow to newly-thawed wetlands.

Many people see Tiger Salamanders only when one accidentally falls into their window well. About 6 inches long, with a 6-inch tail, they are often mistaken for lizards even though they are more closely related to frogs. This is more obvious when you look at a salamander’s aquatic larvae, which hatch from tiny, shell-less eggs that resemble caviar. At first, they sport gills and have only tiny limbs. Usually, they metamorphose after about 2 ½ months, transforming into boldly-barred adults. Occasionally, if wetland conditions are safe, they can mature in their natal pond, becoming juvenile-like adults called paedomorphs, which can breed but resemble gigantic larvae.

Tiger Salamanders select very particular wetlands. They particularly look for bodies of water that don’t have any large, predatory fishes that would eat their eggs. Well-known examples of breeding sites in Utah include Lake Solitude in Big Cottonwood Canyon, Tony Grove Lake in Logan Canyon, and the aptly-named Salamander Lake in Stewart Canyon on the northeast slope of Mt. Timpanogos.

For Wild About Utah, I’m Andrew Durso.

Credits:

Images: Courtesy Andrey Zharkikh, Photographer, licensed under CreativeCommons 2.0.
Text: Andrew Durso, https://www.biology.usu.edu/htm/our-people/graduate-students?memberID=6753

Additional Reading:

Amphibian Decline: Saving the Salamander, Karen Lips AAAS – The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC 20005, https://youtu.be/mgVPh8PCCk4, (Accessed: Feb 15, 2016)

Save the salamanders, unsung heroes of the forest, Brian Resnick, Science Reporter Vox, Interviewing Matthew Grey, University of Tennessee Knoxville, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnrSa18-onc, (Accessed: Feb 15, 2016)

AmphibiaWeb: Information on amphibian biology and conservation. Ambystoma tigrinum. 2016. Berkeley, California: AmphibiaWeb. Available: https://amphibiaweb.org/. (Accessed: Feb 15, 2016).

February 8, 2016June 30, 2020

Conservation: North and South

St George Winter Bird Festival, Courtesy St. George City — St. George Winter Bird Festival
Courtesy St. George City

I spent 2 gloriously warm days in Dixie where I attended the Winter Bird Festival, a grand event by any measure! I also had the good fortune of discovering “Citizens for Dixie’s Future” (henceforth CDF) which has taken on the onerous task of brokering piece between a surging population and the regions limited natural resources. Water topped the list, especially the Lake Powell Pipeline proposal. So I did a bit of reading from CDF’s well stocked library.

It soon became apparent that this multi-billion dollar project needs closer inspection on cost vs benefits. The costs must include not only dollars, but some unintended consequences such as continued urban sprawl in a super sensitive Mojave Desert ecosystem with an abundance of plant and animal life that I became more aware of through an excellent WBF presentation by naturalist educator Marshall Topham on the biodiversity of Washington County.

Located at the confluence of 3 major biomes- Great Basin Desert, Mojave desert, and the Colorado Plateau intersected by numerous rivers and the towering Pine Valley Mountains, Washington County is a wildlife mecca with over 350 species of birds listed, an excellent indicator of its natural wealth.

So my naturalist instincts and a propensity towards frugality led me to look for pipeline alternatives.

I found conservation to be the most obvious and least expensive alternative. In 2009, Washington County was at or near the top in the West for per capita water use at 294 gallons per day. In dramatic contrast Tucson was 161 and golf course and fountain studded Vegas at 222. If the county was to set a goal for 1% reduction in water use per annum, it would negate the need for the pipeline according to CDF.

We notherners in Cache County are being threatened with a similar situation. Our Bear River which supplies 60% of the surface flow into the Great Salt Lake and is the primary source for the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is under scrutiny for multibillion dollar reservoir development to serve the Wasatch Front. In addition to the hefty price tag, this has very serious implications for loss of prime agriculture land and high value wildlife habitat.

The following conservation practices are taken from the CDF.

• Providing rebates for efficient indoor water fixtures and outdoor landscape conversion
• Adding native, drought tolerant landscaping in new developments (and converting old)
• Implementing an increasing rate structure to signal conservation to the customer
• Conservation programs must include numeric targets and performance measures
• Updating building codes with more aggressive plumbing and appliance standards
• Increasing education and awareness about reducing peak water use.
• Implementing smart growth principals and preventing sprawl

An additional conservation possibility being explored by some USU folks is restoring healthy populations of beaver to the Bear River Watershed. This has potential for water storage rivaling planned reservoirs not to mention the supurb wildlife habitat created as a bonus. A question for the Dixie folks- how are the beaver populations in the Beaver Dam and Pine Valley mountains fairing?

This is Jack Greene for Wild About Utah.

Credits:
Image: Courtesy St George Bird Festival, St. George City and Citizens for Dixie’s Future
Text: Jack Greene, Bridgerland Audubon Society
Additional Reading:

Citizens for Dixie’s Future, https://citizensfordixie.org/

Big Bend Habitat Restoration Project: A Natural Work of Heart, Open Spaces-A Talk on the Wild Side, US FWS, https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2016/3/25/Big-Bend-Habitat-Restoration-Project-A-Natural-Work-of-Heart [Accessed March 31, 2016]

January 18, 2016February 12, 2026

American Robin

American Robin
*Turdus migratorius*
Courtesy US FWS, images.fws.gov
Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, Photographer

American Robin
*Turdus migratorius*
Courtesy US FWS, images.fws.gov
Lee Karney, Photographer

Robin with Chicks in Nest
Courtesy US FWS, images.fws.gov
James C. Leopold, Photographer

The American robin with its abundance, red breast, and loud song is one of the most recognizable backyard birds in North America. For many of us the robin – or Turdus migratorius – is also thought of as a herald of spring. So why is it that we still occasionally see them in our wintry Utah backyards?

Seasonal bird migration can be triggered by a number of things, but the two main drivers are food supply and nesting habitat. In spring and summer the birds move northward to take advantage of insect hatches, budding plants, and the plethora of nesting sites. Then, as food sources dwindle in fall, the birds move southward to areas where the necessary resources are still plentiful.

The distances birds migrate in order to access these resources can range widely. Therefore, birds are generally categorized as being short-, medium-, or long-distance migrants. Robins are considered short-distance migrants. While their range spans all of Canada and the United States extending down into Mexico, most robins do not travel far from their breeding grounds in winter and may not leave at all. Only the populations that breed and reside on the edges of this range will migrate seasonally.

The robin’s varied diet and behavioral adaptability are the primary reasons these short-migratory or non-migratory patterns are possible. Robins are preferably ground foragers, feasting on insects and earthworms in the spring and summer months. Yet, during the fall and winter, robins eat a fruit-based diet. They track this seasonal food source in flocks, abandoning their summer individualistic and territorial behavior. These flocks – or roosting aggregates – also help them survive the cold winter temperatures. As a result, robins are able to cope with the ground freezing, the disappearance of their preferred food source, and the harsh winter weather.

Returning to our original question: is the American robin truly a sign of spring here in Utah? Is it strange to see this bird in our backyards during the winter months? The simple answer is no. Robins can be found year round almost anywhere south of Canada. While they may migrate nomadically, staying or leaving areas as weather and snow cover affect their food supply, there could be some keeping us company in Utah all winter.

For Wild About Utah, I’m Anna Bengtson.

American Robin Credits:

Theme: Courtesy & Copyright Don Anderson as performed by Leaping Lulu
Image: Courtesy US FWS, Dr. Thomas G. Barnes, Lee Karney, and James C. Leopold, Photographers
Text & Voice: Anna Bengston

American Robin Additional Reading:

American Robin Profile, Utah Birds http://utahbirds.org/birdsofutah/BirdsA-C/AmericanRobin.htm

American Robin, Cornell Lab of Ornithology https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_robin/id

American Robin, The Birds of the World, The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/amerob/cur/introduction

The Basics of Bird Migration: How, Why, and Where, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, 2021, https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/the-basics-how-why-and-where-of-bird-migration/

Where Have all the Robins Gone?, Migration, Cornell Lab of Ornithology https://web.archive.org/web/20161231065404/https://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/faq/master_folder/migration/document_view

Snow Depth Survey, The Great Backyard Bird Count https://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/science-stories/past-stories/snow-depth-survey

Winter Robins, The Great Backyard Bird Count https://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/science-stories/past-stories/is-that-winter-flock-of-robins-in-your-yard-unusual

Kelly, Patrick, A Moral Dilemma, Wild About Utah, June 29, 2020, https://wildaboututah.org/a-moral-dilemma/

Bengston, Anna, Robins in Winter, Wild About Utah, March 13, 2014, https://wildaboututah.org/robins-in-winter/

Bingham, Lyle, Hurren, Richard(voice), The Occupants on Robin Street, Wild About Utah, July 8, 2008, https://wildaboututah.org/the-occupants-on-robin-street/