Sue Hirshman â Special to The Ouray County Plaindealer This Great Horned Owl was spotted during the recent Christmas Bird Count on Dec. 28, conducted by volunteers with the Black Canyon Audubon Society.
Birds of Ouray County: The history of the Christmas Bird Count
BIRDS OF OURAY COUNTY
The late 1800’s marked the
“age of the extermination” in which birds were being shot and killed for sport, but bison herds were being decimated by what was called a “generation of Buffalo Bills” who shot from horseback as part of the genocide campaign against the Plains Indians, and even just for fun from the windows of railroad cars.
All shorebirds became big business where market gunmen scoured the coast for birds, selling bags full of them to restaurants, hotels o...