are burrowing owls endangered native
Appearance: The burrowing owl is a pint-sized bird that lives in open, treeless areas. The burrowing owl spends most of its time on the ground, where its sandy brown plumage provides camouflage from potential predators. One of Florida's smallest owls, it averages nine inches in height with a wingspan of 21 inches. Burrowing owls inhabit open native prairies and cleared areas that offer short groundcover including pastures, agricultural fields, golf courses, airports, and vacant lots in residential areas. Historically, the burrowing owl occupied the prairies of central Florida. The greatest threat to burrowing owls is habitat destruction and degradation caused primarily by land development. Burrowing owls are also threatened by agricultural development, the use of pesticides and efforts to eradicate prairie dogs, which live side by side with burrowing owls. Behavior: Burrowing owls mainly eat insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles. They can be of special benefit in urban settings since they also consume roaches and mole crickets. Other important foods are small lizards, frogs, snakes, birds, and rodents. What You Can Do To Help. 1  Install T-perches near owl burrows. 2  Restrict use of pesticides. 3  Attracting owls to your lawn. 4  Report malicious destruction or harassment of burrowing owls or their nests. Burrowing Owl Management. The western species of burrowing owl is currently protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a National Bird of Conservation Concern. It is listed as threatened in Mexico, and endangered in Canada. Burrowing owl populations are decreasing in size due to loss of nesting habitat from increasing human development. In an effort to counteract this habitat loss, land and wildlife managers are constructing artificial burrows and relocating displaced burrowing owls into protected habitat. However, this effort can be challenging due to the variability in quality of available habitat. To help address concerns for burrowing owls in Arizona, federal, state, and local agencies, in addition to private organizations, universities, and rehabilitators have formed the Arizona Burrowing Owl Working Group. Threats to Burrowing Owls. The greatest threat to burrowing owls is habitat destruction and degradation caused primarily by land development. Despite their protected status, burrowing owls and their burrows are routinely destroyed during the development process. Burrowing owls are also threatened by agricultural development, the use of pesticides and efforts to eradicate prairie dogs, which live side by side with burrowing owls. The BurrowingOwl Project The Burrowing Owl is a small raptor thatlives in underground burrows and eats mice and insects. Because Burrowing Owlsare frequently active during the day, nearbyresidents can become veryattached tothem and protectiveof their welfare.
Yes