Burrowing Owl Buddies

We are proud to report great success in initiating a collaborative effort with biologists and ornithologists in Mexico who are joining us in an attempt to solve some of the mysteries of migration, in particular, for the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia). Our company, Envirological Services, Inc. has a contract with Kirtland Air Force Base and funding from a Legacy grant that includes partnerships with twenty-three Department of Defense military installations in the southwestern United States. Populations of Burrowing Owls have been on the decline in Canada and the United States over the past few decades. They are endangered in Canada, federally listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) as a Species of National Conservation Concern here in the U.S. Questions about where they migrate to and what happens to them en route or on their wintering grounds have scientists and professionals discussing a multitude of possibilities. We are busy in the first year of a five-year study to find some answers. We anticipate tracking down a few banded owls sporting telemetry devices next year when we will be working with Environmental Flying Services, (Mexico – United States) out of Tucson, Arizona. In the meantime, this year, with the leadership and initiative of Octavio Cruz-Carretero, from Veracruz, Mexico, we blazed a trail of contacts recruiting like-minded researchers and conservationists to assist in a project that almost seemed too large to tackle! Bit by bit and with each contact and conversation, we found willing and qualified professionals in Mexico, many of them already doing work with the Burrowing Owl populations there, eager to work with us. We were genuinely impressed with their level of commitment and enthusiasm for this project. It feels like teamwork across the miles that brings us all together for a meaningful cause. We hope a link of knowledge crossing the continent and all three countries will eventually result in some answers to the questions posed by migration. Our travels in Mexico mid October into November this year took us across 4,000 miles through 16 states. The results: 15 collaborators working in twelve states in search of Burrowing Owls, checking for bands as they go.

Our collaborators will search several days in November, again in December and then in January. We will post any findings and keep our readers abreast of developments in the “movement to promote conservation of our amigos, the owls….”

We are not new to this idea of pooling resources…in the state of New Mexico, we belong to a very active and committed Burrowing Owl State Working Group. We meet several times a year and have a strong and growing database of owl locations statewide. We have incorporated a “citizen science” effort including significant outreach to all citizens of our state, encouraging them to report any and all owl sightings. You can learn more about this by going to the the Hawks Aloft website, www.hawksaloft.org and clicking on NMBOWG in the left hand column on their home page. Our next meeting is December 8, 2005 in Socorro, NM, where we will give a presentation about this project.