Owl Watch 2023 Season Stats

Brittany Piersma, field biologist for the Audubon of the Western Everglades (AWE), had lots of information to share with the roomful of Owl Watch Volunteers at Mackle Park. First, she gave a big thank you to all the volunteers, “we couldn’t do this without you, and you’ve worked so hard for us every year. Thanks for fighting for our native wildlife.” These words were also echoed by Lori Beall, Program Director of AWE, and Andy Wells-Bean, AWE’s Executive Director. 

2023 Burrowing Owl Data for Marco Island:

• Total Sites: 353
• Active Sites: 261
• Total Nests: 181
• Total Fledged: 447
• Total Starter Burrows: 110
• Total Excavated: 53 (one Gopher Tortoise Burrow)
• Total Inhabited: 21
• Total Pairs: 17
• Total Nests: 14
• Total Fledged Chicks: 44

According to Piersma, the Starter Burrow Program is the key to maintaining a successful population of burrowing owls in Marco Island. The number of starter burrows has gone up a bit from 2022 and this is on the top of Piersma’s list. She wants to know if an owl came to the site, if they were successful in attracting a mate and produced chicks, and she would like to band the owls so she can track their movements.

High on Piersma’s agenda is trying to lessen the effects of rat poison on the burrowing owl population. She shared that of the 26 burrowing owl samples sent off for testing, 21 results came back so far, with 17 testing positive for varying levels of rodenticide toxin. In addition, Piersma shared that rat lungworm also were found in the brains of a few carcasses and need further research on this. This might be a contributing factor to the “wobbly chick” syndrome we’ve seen from some of the chicks in past years. According to Piersma, “We need to reduce the non-native rat population in Marco Island and at the same time avoid using poisons, and sadly, the rat population in Marco hasn’t been studied.”

Piersma shared a recent case of rat poison with a burrowing owl. Volunteers noticed an owl showing symptoms of toxicosis – it could not use its wings or legs and was struggling to open its eyes with no apparent signs of external injuries. A quick action from a volunteer who took the owl to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida gave this owl a chance at recovery.

Another tragedy was averted with a burrowing owl in Marco stuck to a sticky glue board rodent trap. The rescuer suspected that it had been stuck on the glue board for days. According to the Conservancy, glue traps are an inhumane method of rodent control and should not be used. No animal deserves to die slowly of starvation and dehydration. Luckily, the owl survived!

And we’ve also had a successful Orphan Adoption – according to Piersma, The Clinic for Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW) from Sanibel contacted Marco Owl Watch. They had an orphaned burrowing owl chick looking for an adoptive family. Piersma gave this chick an orange band and found a burrowing owl family with five older chicks. It was adopted by the parents and Piersma reported this is something that we’ve never done.

Marco Island Code Enforcement also sent an update: “From January 2023 to present, they have dealt with 213 cases on burrowing owls. They have issued eight citations, issued 33 notices of violations, gave out 60 verbal and written warnings and one Stop Work Order.”

The group has been missing Jean Hall, where this message from her was read: “Many of you have probably heard that I’ve moved to Maine where I will continue with my volunteer work with Project Puffin. I want to salute all of you for the wonderful work you are doing on behalf of Marco’s Burrowing Owl population. You are truly heroes to these tenacious little raptors. You are what stands between them and development overload – you are what hope looks like to a bird. It’s been an honor to be part of this AWE project.”