Burrowing Owls Archives - Page 2 of 2

Populations: The Ultimate Underdog

Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs are a White-tailed subspecies, which inhabits the four corners region. Once ubiquitous, current estimates place their populations at about 2 – 5% of their former range.

Two of the five species of prairie dogs are protected under the Endangered Species Act. There may be fewer Utah Prairie Dogs than Siberian Tigers. Black-tailed Prairie Dogs, the most numerous due their large range, are considered a Candidate for Threatened Listing. They meet all criteria for listing, but the Fish and Wildlife Service does not yet have the resources to enforce the listing, so they were placed on the Candidate List in 2000. They are on about 1% of their former range.

Ecological Importance: A ‘keystone species.’

Prairie dogs are a ‘keystone species,’ or most important element, of their environment.

Up to 160 other species benefit from their presence.

They enrich their environment in three ways:

As the primary prey on rangelands.
They build homes or shelter for many species.
They alter vegetation and soil to promote optimum grazing conditions.

The Black-footed Ferret is the most endangered mammal on our continent and cannot live without prairie dogs under any circumstances.

The Ferruginous Hawk, Swift Fox, Mountain Plover, and Burrowing Owl, are considered for or federally protected species that are considered dependent on prairie dogs. Several other species are considered dependent on prairie dogs. Several other species are considered dependent.

It’s a Dog’s Life: a Brief Description of the Prairie Dogs, Themselves

Prairie dogs possess, perhaps, the most complex language of any animal ever studied. Even more so than primates. They have over fifty primary ‘words’ and can communicate in sentences, distinguish color, speed, and level of threat through language.

Prairie dogs live in family units called ‘coteries’. They often ‘kiss’ in a familial identification. The animals commonly seen poised on their hindquarters are sentries, ever vigilant on the lookout for danger to themselves and families.

Prairie dogs are annual breeders. Fifty percent of females over two years of age will give birth to about 4 pups in the spring. There is tremendous juvenile mortality.

Prairie dogs live to be about five years old in the wild.

Burrows are complex, with separate ‘rooms’ for each function of life. Toilet chambers, sleeping quarters and storage typify a home burrow. Often, listening posts are created near the entrance for added protection. Some burrows have several entrances.

Gunnison’s and White-tailed Prairie Dogs hibernate, or go into torpor, as it is called, from about November through February. Black-tailed Prairie Dogs do not hibernate.

Yes, there are burrowing owls living with the prairie dogs in Albuquerque.

The owls nest in underground burrows, hence their name. They use burrows created by other burrowing animals such as ground squirrels or prairie dogs. If burrows are unavailable and the soil is not hard or rocky, the owls may excavate their own. Burrowing owls will also nest in underground man-made structures that have easy access to the surface. They take over prairie dog burrows and live as neighbors.

The owls will eat baby or dead prairie dogs but they generally eat mice, insects, fruits and seeds. Unlike other owls they are general out during the day hunting at dawn and dusk.

The owls make a wide range of sounds including the who who call, clucks, chattering, and screams. Perhaps most interesting is when alarmed they frequently make a hissing call that sounds like a rattlesnake.

Burrowing owls are year-round residents in some areas and migrate south during the winter months, in others. They usually return to the same areas, often to the same burrow. Urban development is steadily reducing their habitat and often when they return from migration they find their ancestral homes gone.

These small owls prefer undisturbed areas. Too much activity prevents successful hunting and they will move to a more remote area if disturbed. Their nesting season begins in the early spring. The female will lay around 8-12 eggs over a two-week period. The eggs hatch in about three weeks and the chicks are able to make short flights after four weeks. The parents will continue to feed the chicks for up to three months after hatching. Usually only about half of the chicks survive.

They are a federally protected migratory bird with fines up to $10,000 for intentionally destroying them. Developers must not disturb them or must make provisions to relocate them if they are present in planned work areas. Unfortunately their nests are frequently overlooked or ignored. The males may fly away when danger threatens, but the females and young will hide in the burrows. They will be destroyed if the equipment operator is not aware of their presence and plows them under. Any field with prairie dogs or other burrowing animals should be carefully checked before the start of construction. The burrows containing owls frequently have a “white-wash” of waste at the entrance to the burrow, while the prairie dog burrows will have their scat nearby. Provisions should be made to relocate any resident prairie dogs or owls. If you see owls that might be in danger, please call the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department at 505-248-6282

Even though they are a protected species, they are in serious trouble because of habitat loss and control methods for prairie dogs. When the prairie dogs are poisoned, the owls also die. Most of Albuquerque’s owls are gone. The owls tend to seek other nesting areas because the parklands and easement areas in Albuquerque are too busy and noisy. The few open fields left are often slated for development and are denuded of forage and vegetation by clean up crews leaving little or nothing that is edible for the prairie dogs and owls.