Biologists Ask Public to Report Blinged-out Burrowing Owls
Posted February 3, 2015 - 1:43pmUpdated February 4, 2015 - 7:53am
http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/nevada...owing-owls


Three burrowing owls sit outside their home after being fitted with leg bands in 2014. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking people in Las Vegas and Pahrump to report any sightings of banded burrowing owls to help with research into the movement of the birds. (Courtesy/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)

By HENRY BREAN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

Have you seen a smallish owl with some blueish bling? The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service wants to know about it.

Biologists from the service placed metallic blue bands on the legs of 52 burrowing owls in Las Vegas and Pahrump in 2014. Now they’re asking the public to report any sightings of the banded birds around town or out in the desert.

Western burrowing owls are small, long-legged, ground-inhabiting birds with large yellow eyes. They are often seen during the daytime resting outside of their burrows, usually in an open area with little vegetation.

In the fall and winter, the young owls tend to leave home and move to new areas. Some remain in southern Nevada year-round, while others migrate south or disperse into other areas where there may be more food — namely insects, small rodents and lizards — during winter.

By tracking the banded birds, researchers hope to learn more about where the juveniles go after leaving their parents’ burrows.

Each banded owl has a blue metallic band on its left leg and a silver band on its right leg. If you see one, the service asks you to try to read the two-digit number and letter on the blue band, record the bird’s GPS location or note the nearest cross streets and call it in to 702-515-5230.

You will probably need binoculars or a spotting scope to read the band. They tend to fly away if you get too close.

Dan Balduini, spokesman for the Fish & Wildlife Service in Las Vegas, said burrowing owls are not federally listed but are considered a species of concern due to habitat loss.

At Floyd Lamb Park in Las Vegas, the service and the Red Rock Audubon Society have created artificial burrows to replace natural ones lost through development of surrounding land. For the past seven years, volunteers have monitored these burrows during nesting to estimate the number of young in each.

The banding in 2014 was done by service biologists and the Audubon Society, with 48 juveniles and four adult owls captured at Floyd Lamb Park in Las Vegas and at several locations in Pahrump.

Banded birds of many species pass through southern Nevada during migration. Anyone who reads the band on a bird or finds a dead banded bird may report it online at http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/ or by calling 1-800-327-2263.

I just thought the little guys in the picture were cute and had never heard of burrowing owls before, so I decided to share it with ya'll.

Is that Nike, NB or Adidas footwear they sport ?

(02-04-2015 02:56 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  I just thought the little guys in the picture were cute and had never heard of burrowing owls before, so I decided to share it with ya'll.

Our conference mates over at FAU use the burrowing owl as their mascot. Even some things on campus use the name 'Burrow'.

http://www.fau.edu/business-services/din...-grill.php

We have tons of burrowing owls out here in West Texas. They are a fixture on and around most of the golf courses.
(I don't recall ever seeing a great horned owl in the area.)
I'll have to get out the binoculars and see if any of the little critters have been banded!!

(02-04-2015 03:57 PM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(02-04-2015 02:56 PM)GoodOwl Wrote:  I just thought the little guys in the picture were cute and had never heard of burrowing owls before, so I decided to share it with ya'll.

Our conference mates over at FAU use the burrowing owl as their mascot. Even some things on campus use the name 'Burrow'.

http://www.fau.edu/business-services/din...-grill.php

Well, thank you, loki! I still learn something new here sometimes!

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