Billy Chapman writes about being part of the Urban Burrowing Owl Project.

I am very pleased that I was given the opportunity to participate in the Burrowing Owl Monitoring Project.  As a result of participation, I have been inspired to use my optical equipment on a regular basis and to learn more about bird watching.  My most thrilling experience came on the day that I went to my assigned burrow, carrying a bit of concern that my adult pair probably didn’t produce any offspring, because other volunteers were reporting new babies at their sites, while I saw none at mine.  A few minutes after I had completed my official thirty minutes of monitoring, I took one more look through my scope.  Suddenly, a young owl exited the burrow.  Then, another one appeared!  Shortly after, a third baby owl came out of the burrow.  I stood there silently grinning from ear to ear, but I felt like jumping up and down, shouting, “They’re here.”  It has been a delight to have also connected with fellow wildlife enthusiasts and professionals through this project.  Most significantly, this monitoring project has become the catalyst for me to engage in more of the Red Rock Audubon Society’s scheduled activities and meetings.

Billy Chapman – 07/24/08

This summer we monitored 36 nest burrows. Thanks for all your help. You guys have been doing a great job!

Of these 36 nest burrows, 26 produced babies. Numbers of babies at each nest ranged between 1 and 6. The babies are growing up very quickly. Our oldest babies are now about 80 days old. A few older babies have started to get streaking on their breast as they molt (change plumage) to look like the adults. The books on owls say that the molt is complete at 70 days, but our owls in Las Vegas are taking longer.

Most of the babies have fledged and are now going hunting with the adults. Because of this the owls can be hard to follow because they are moving around and perching and roosting at satellite burrows. Many of you who have seen the number of babies decrease at your burrow over time; often this is because they have moved to satellite burrows. We have documented many instances of the owls moving to satellite burrows. Also when you have other pairs nesting nearby, it can get very confusing with the owls from one burrow intermingling with owls from another.

Several volunteers have finished their monitoring for the season for several reasons: 1) owls that did not produce any young have left the area and 2) owls that nested and raised young in busy areas (sidewalks, or adjacent to OHV trails) seem to have moved probably to more secure locations. You should continue the monitoring if your owls are still present until the juveniles look like the adults at 80 plus days of age or until the end of August. Please let me know if you think you should stop monitoring before then and why.

We are looking for several volunteers to write a paragraph about their experience monitoring burrowing owls this summer. We would like to post these on the project webpage. Please email me about your experience if you would like it to be shared with others.

We will have a potluck picnic this fall probably a Saturday in late September or early October to go over the results in more detail from this breeding season. I have also arranged for us to take a tour of the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. Here we will get to see baby and adult desert tortoises and learn about the conservation and research being conducted at the center. The tour will probably be in late September. Once the date is set I will let you know.

Thanks again for all your help,
Christiana

We now have at least 20 burrows with baby owls. We will continue to monitor the babies until they undergo a prebasic molt and look the same as the adults. This happens when they are 44 to 70 days old. We anticipate this occurring in August sometime.

Below is a photo of owls at burrow 329. The baby is approximately 11 to 12 days old.

Below are owl baby photos that Kelly Douglas,  who monitors burrow 274 with Leah Hare, sent in.  The young owls are about 23 days old.  Please note the small white eyebrows, white throat with dark edges, adult primary feathers on wing, and no tail.

We now have three or four burrows with owl babies. Marjorie has seen her owl babies hop and run and flap their wings. It is not always easy to spot the babies. They are 1/3 to 1/2 the size of the adults when they first emerge from the burrow. While monitoring burrow 151 last night for Bob, who is on vacation, the one baby was only visible for about 30 seconds at the burrow entrance. The babies usually first come out at sunrise and sunset. Remember to use the photos and table in the instruction booklet to help you determine the age of the young.

It is very important to follow the monitoring instructions. Please remember the following: 1) the observation period must be 30 minutes exactly. You can observe the owls for longer but you can only officially collect data for 30 minutes. 2) Monitoring must occur either around sunset or sunrise.

Several volunteers have asked when to start the intensive monitoring period. This will usually begin 7 to 10 days after you first see the babies if you have a clear view of the burrow entrance. If you don’t have a good view of the burrow entrance, the babies will be older when you first see them. The intensive monitoring period may begin 5 days after they are first seen. Remember the intensive monitoring is when the babies are 21 to 28 days old. These owl should have a white throat with dark edges and small white eye brows by then.

Volunteers 29 – Burrows Monitored 34 – Pairs Known 37 min

Project:  The Urban Burrowing Owl Project is closing its 2nd month of monitoring in the 1st of 3 years.  We are always seeking new information on owls anywhere that they occur.  At this time we have more pairs than monitors, largely because the owl pairs we have are on the north side and the volunteers that are unmatched to burrows are on the south side.  Therefore our efforts to find new owl pairs are concentrated on the south side.

Owl Activities:  The owls being monitored have been observed mating, displaying to their mates, displaying to other owls, interacting with other owls, dealing with coyotes, cars, joggers, and dogs.  Their life cycles are progressing from courtship to egg laying and incubation.  While those activities are not observed directly, the egg laying and incubation is implied when the female of the pair remains in or very near the burrow.  Single males at the burrows are being noted more and more frequently.  We are also seeing some pairs move around so monitors are left without owls in their assigned burrows and new pairs or relocated pairs are showing up nearby.

We had some great volunteers who dug out their winter coats, hats, and gloves and braved the cold windy weather Sunday, March 16th for training.  One of our favorite pairs of owls cooperated and sat quietly so everyone could see them.  We were prepared to stay until after dark to see some activity in their burrow.  We did indeed see them preening and fluffing out their feathers and looking around and then they flew off to do their nightly hunting.

Some monitoring of the Burrowing Owls has already started and will continue to increase as we see the pairs of owls starting their new families.  We are matching volunteers with owls in their neighborhoods to make it easier for them to monitor.

We still need to know the location of local urban Burrowing Owls.  Although we have located over 213 burrows, some burrows are inactive or being used as satellite burrows by the Owls.  Burrowing Owls like to have more than one burrow to live in for safety reasons, such as if the original burrow collapses or is bulldozed, they will then have other burrows to use.  Also, to protect their young from predators or other dangers, the parents may split the babies up into two burrows.

Even though we have located many burrows, we still need to find live Borrowing Owls – especially PAIRS of Owls!  We had reports of 173 Owls, and now we need to determine an accurate head count by confirming that Owls are still present at those reported locations.  This needs to be be done now, as breeding season is starting, because some Owls may have been migrants or even killed.

If you know the location of any Burrowing Owls, please let us know so we may add them to the monitoring project.