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October 10 is the opportunity to secure state protections for California’s dwindling burrowing owls!
The California Fish & Game Commission will hold a public hearing on October 10th to determine whether listing Western Burrowing Owl populations in California as threatened or endangered under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) may be warranted. The Commission will likely vote on whether to designate “candidate” status for burrowing owls.
Please attend the Thursday, October 10th meeting in Sacramento in person, to speak in support of state listing. It is at 8:30 am, at the Natural Resources Headquarters Building, 715 P Street, Sacramento, in the Auditorium. The burrowing owl listing (Item 14) will be the first substantive item. The meeting agenda is here. If you cannot attend in person, you can testify remotely (instructions to join online). Or just submit an email before October 4 to the Commission supporting CESA listing (fgc@fgc.ca.gov).
Please see the Talking Points for your testimony or email to the Commission.
You can view the CESA listing petition here.
Jeff Miller
Senior Conservation Advocate
Center for Biological Diversity
(510) 499-9185
www.biologicaldiversity.org
Burrowing owl faces ‘death by a thousand cuts,’ advocates say
March 11, 2024 by Jireh Deng | Los Angeles Times
It’s kind of hard not to be smitten with the burrowing owl.
Standing just 9 inches tall and weighing less than a cup of coffee, these owls prefer to live in the ground, where they feed mainly on insects and small rodents, rather than in trees. Their miniature size, feathery floof and comically big eyes give these birds of prey a charisma that captivates the lens of wildlife photographers and the hearts of even the most clinical environmental scientists. [ read more… ]
Bay Area burrowing owls are on the brink of extinction
Conservation groups are urging California officials to protect populations throughout the state under the Endangered Species Act…
March 27, 2024 by Amanda Bartlett | SFGATE
There are opossums that have been hit by cars, songbirds that have smashed into windows, and squirrels that have gotten caught in glue traps. Some require feedings every half hour, while others prefer to be left alone. But for the past few years, one species tucked away in a cluster of aviaries spanning half the size of a basketball court has been barely hanging from the brink of extinction in the Bay Area: the burrowing owl. [ read more… ]
Burrowing Owl Juvenile Overwintering Project
For this project we took juvenile burrowing owls at the end of the 2019 breeding season (owl chicks have a 70% mortality rate during their first year), the birds were overwintered at the Peninsula Humane Societies facility in Burlingame. We had DNA analysis conducted on all birds to determine which individuals to pair up for release as breeding pairs for the 2020 breeding season. Five pairs were formed and 3 additional females (no males available) will be released during March. The three females have already been released using a soft release procedure, we installed artificial burrows and placed an enclosure on top of the burrows and placed the owls inside for a few weeks to get them accustomed to their surroundings. A solar powered audio system was used to broadcast the burrowing owls primary call for a specified amount of time on the hour each hour from dusk to dawn to attract burrowing owls to the release site and also retain owls on site. This project has two main components; to reduce mortality rates and increase the breeding population.
PRESS RELEASE
Conservation groups filed a petition Tuesday with the California Fish and Game Commission seeking protection for Western burrowing owls in five parts of the state under the California Endangered Species Act.
The petition seeks endangered status for burrowing owls in southwestern California, central-western California and the San Francisco Bay Area, and threatened status for burrowing owls [ read more… ]
Environmentalists ask California to protect burrowing owls
The Center for Biological Diversity and six other groups officially asked the state Fish and Game Commission to protect the owl populations in five parts of the state…
March 5, 2024 by Michael Cabanatuan | San Francisco Chronicle
On Tuesday, a coalition of conservation groups filed a petition with the state seeking to protect the birds by declaring them an endangered or threatened species [ read more… ]
Burrowing Owl Courtship — Photo credit: John Ehrenfeld.
Catherine joined Cache Creek Conservancy at the Capay Open Space Park for Explore on October 22nd. Nature Backpack kickoff. Burrowing Owl Preservation Society displayed our educational taxidermy for the public.
https://cachecreekconservancy.org/explore-nature-at-capay-open-space-park/
Warehouse developer gets lease near Ontario airport, site of nesting burrowing owls
Small, furry owls nesting underground in these empty fields would be at risk, environmental groups say.
December 23, 2021 by Steve Scauzillo | San Gabriel Valley Tribune
Under the agreement approved Thursday, Dec. 23, CanAm Ontario LLC, a venture formed by San Antonio-based USAA Real Estate Co. and McDonald Property Group of Newport Beach, paid the Ontario airport a nonrefundable $10 million deposit for the right to develop the land, located east [ read more… ]
NEWS: Poison Free Sanctuary
About Us
We are an all volunteer organization. We strive for owl-people compatibility. There are many ways to join us and support our mission.
Contact us to find out more about volunteer opportunities, events, and ways that you can get our message to your friends and family.
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News
Burrowing Owls in the News
KOVR CBS-13 Sacramento interviews Catherine Portman about the continuing population declines in our area.
Burrow Installation at Bayer
A Bayer employee, Beth Savidge, noticed a burrowing owl hanging out in their equipment yard this winter. Beth contacted Catherine Portman…
Events
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