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Leaping Foxes

10,000 Birds

We call it a “mouse gradation year” I was not able to find a catchy English term for “gradation year” – it’s what happens when a certain species showing population cycles reaches a peak year. No “gophers” etc. You’re not a vole or a gerbil.

Fox 163
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California Quail, The California State Bird: Now Forming Coveys

10,000 Birds

California Quail , being ground nesting game birds, have many predators which are assumed to be the primary cause of the specie’s mortality. Their main aerial predators are the Cooper’s Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk, but they are also taken by Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, Prairie Falcons and American Kestrels.