Slim pickins this winter. Rodent populations go through boom/bust cycles approximately every 7-10 years. Here we have now entered into a bust cycle. Birds that prey on rodents are normally the owls and the hawks. When the waters, ponds, lakes, creeks, and rivers freeze over no fish is available for the eagles. Eagles then switch their diet to rodents and waterfowl, and almost anything that has flesh. Because birds of prey are so important to a healthy ecosystem by removing those destructive rode