Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Yellow-headed blackbirds
(Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)
are sometimes seen in the reeds
at Floating Island Lake west of Tower Junction or beside some of that area's other ponds. The
call of this blackbird is a loud “tseck.”
On many shallow ponds in the area, you may see
American coots
(Fulica americana),
which look rather like ducks but are actually a type of rail. Coots are slate gray with broad
white bills, red eyes, lobed feet, and a habit of pumping their heads while swimming. When a
flock of coots takes of, they seem to dance or skitter on the surface of the water.
You are very likely to see the distinctive
black-billed magpie
(Pica pica)
between the North
Entrance and Tower-Roosevelt Junction. Watch for a rather large black-and-white bird with
an extremely long tail.
he
American kestrel
or
sparrow hawk
(Falco sparverius)
is a medium-large bird with
two black marks on its face, a buff-colored breast, gray wings, and a reddish-brown back with
black flecks across it. The kestrel swoops out of the sky to pick up its prey but lives mainly on
insects. Sitting on a high perch, a kestrel will wag its tail up and down repeatedly.
he
red-tailed hawk
(Buteo jamaicensis)
is about twice as large as the kestrel and may be
gray or brown on the upper body and lighter below, with chestnut red in the top of the tail.
They have been known to soar for as long as 7 hours a day while hunting. There's a breeding
population near Gardiner, and red-tailed hawks may be seen throughout northern Yellow-
stone.
he
golden eagle
(Aquila chrysaetos)
may be more than a yard (1 m) long and have a
7-foot (2 m) wingspan. You may sometimes see them not far from the road in the Lamar Val-
ley. Watch for a gracefully soaring, lustrous brown bird with golden-brown head and lighter-
colored breast. The
bald eagle
(Haliaeetus leucocephalusi),
America's national bird, was listed
as endangered in Yellowstone from 1978 to 2007, but this fish-eater with a wingspan up to 8
feet (2.4 m) can now be seen near lakes and rivers fairly often.
Small mammals of the river valleys
he
river otter
(Lutra canadensis)
is a highly aquatic member of the weasel family. Three or
four feet (1-1.2 m) long including its tail, it has lustrous, dark-brown fur and a broad, rather
flat head. It feeds mostly on fish, amphibians, and insects. Otters dig dens in the riverbanks or
use beaver and muskrat lodges. River otters can sometimes be seen playfully sliding down a
steep bank into a stream in and around the Madison, Yellowstone, and Lamar Rivers, but they
are crepuscular (active at dawn or dusk) or nocturnal.
A more common aquatic mammal in Yellowstone is the
muskrat
(Ondatra zibethicus),
a
rodent that grows up to 2 feet (60 cm) long and has thick, lustrous fur that is usually dark
brown. Outside of national parks, its fur is responsible for a multi-million-dollar industry. You
