Utah Lake - Ecosystem - Birds

Birds

During the 1800s and lasting into the 1930s, the killing of fish-eating birds was seen as a fish conservation measure. Bounties were given by local government entities, and upon presenting evidence of offending dead birds, game officers paid the bounties. A report by a hunter states, "There was a bounty paid on cranes and heron in 1895. Two men could make as high as $66 a day. Wading into the rookeries with their pants off they would crack the heron over the head. When the bounty was paid on pelican we would use a fish float tide to a wad of rushes. Gulls were also caught. There has been 10,000 slaughtered. At the Big Channel gidls have been shot and there are four or five hundred pelicans which have been shot. In 1928 I killed 1,240 mudhens . We would eat the hearts and gizzards, take the feathers and oil and discard the rest."

Today, about 226 species of birds use the lake either as their permanent home or as a stop over on their migration. The Utah Lake Wetland Preserve has been established at the south end of Utah Lake. It contains two units, one at Goshen bay with more than 21,750 acres (88.0 km2) of land preserved, and another unit at Benjamin Slough. Birds seen at Utah Lake include sandhill crane, double-crested cormorant, great horned owl, turkey vulture, golden eagle, cinnamon teal duck, and mallard duck.