Hello tweets,

some good news for the burrowing owl in Canada. (I
chuckled when I read the description of the owls that
describes them as "pop-can size").

========
Endangered owl population rebounding in Alberta and
Saskatchewan

http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=e8ad71ef-6734-4144-9348-10c7696b6f6c

Endangered owl population rebounding in Alberta and
Saskatchewan

Monday, October 11, 2004

MOOSE JAW, Sask. (CP) _ The numbers of endangered
burrowing owls in Alberta and Saskatchewan is building
after many years of decline, according to an
Environment Canada official.

Troy Wellicome, chairman of the national Burrowing Owl
Recovery Team, said the number of pairs of burrowing
owls in the two provinces grew to 117 in 2003.

That's more than double the estimated 50 pairs of the
pop can-sized owls that were living in Alberta and
Saskatchewan in 2000, but it's still a far cry from
the 1,200 pairs that were estimated in 1989.

``It's encouraging. It's always good to see when we've
seen so many declines over the years, but the species
hasn't recovered by any means,'' Wellicome said.

``The burrowing owl is quite a unique part of the
ecosystem. They're the only predatory bird that nests
underground.''

The recovery team has set a goal of 3,000 pairs to
have a healthy population.

Numbers for 2004 are still being compiled.

Wellicome said the population estimates are compiled
from reports of the owls from landowners. He said the
estimates take into account that not all landowners
report bird sightings.

Historically, Canada had good breeding populations of
burrowing owls throughout the dry, short-grass prairie
habitat of the four western provinces. Since the
1930s, however, there has been a steady decrease both
in the number of birds and their geographic range.

They are now found in the wild, primarily in
Grasslands National Park in southern Saskatchewan.
British Columbia has also established a few pairs to
reintroduce the ground-nesting birds to the Okanagan
Valley.

Moose Jaw is home to the Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl
Interpretive Centre.

Wellicome said environmentalists are uncertain why the
burrowing owl population is growing, although he
suggested a more abundant food source might be a
factor.

``They lay a lot of eggs in years when they have a lot
of small mammals [field mice or voles], they raise
more of their young. In years where it doesn't turn
out to have a lot of food, more young die.''

CP 2004

Copyright CanWest Interactive Inc. All rights
reserved.


=====
Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
Independent Scholar
birdologist [at] yahoo [dot] com
public blog: http://girlscientist.blogspot.com



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