Strong Start of 2020 Burrowing Owl Season With 80+ Volunteers!

March 7th was the official kick-off for 80+ owl watch monitors for the Owl Watch Community Science Program in Marco Island. Alli Smith of the Audubon of the Western Everglades (AWE) and Project Manager and Biologist for the program was excited to welcome the volunteers for the start of the 2020 burrowing owl nesting season. 

According to Alli Smith, the male burrowing owls are busy decorating their burrow entrances to attract their “lifetime mates.” The male owl goes nuts in their decoration choices. For some male owls, they prefer grass clippings, while others prefer bright colored flowers, but their absolute favorite is dried up “dog poop.” They carry it over to their burrow and scatter it all over the entrance hoping to catch the attention of a nearby female. Ranch owls display similar preferences for “cow poop.”  

According to Alli, nobody knows why they do this—it could be that the smell attracts insects or to deter predators, but there is no solid conclusion by owl experts. Owls love anything unique—even personal garments from the clotheslines.  

Alli shared that fabric is not an ideal material for nest building. In the past, she’s had an experience with a chick getting tangled in fabric landscaping glove. Also, thread from a cat toy got tangled around an owl’s legs which required surgery to remove the constricting fiber—similar to a pelican getting its leg caught in fishing line. 

How can you tell a male owl from a female owl? According to Alli, it is usually very difficult, unless you see the pair together. Female owls spend most of her time underground sitting on the eggs and may appear darker as compared to the male owl that sits outside the burrow with lighter feathers. 

What do owls eat? Owls are carnivores and will eat anything that we don’t want in our front yard such as lizards, frogs, snakes, even small birds. Monitors have seen bread dumped close to the burrows, watermelon halves, cereal, even leftover food. Alli cautioned that human food attracts predators close to their nests, especially crows. Crows will not enter the burrows but will pick up small and very young chicks. 

Why are burrowing owls threatened? According to Smith, development is by far the biggest threat to burrowing owls in Florida and in Marco Island. Owls need open spaces to dig their burrows and open spaces are disappearing rapidly as homes are rapidly being built.  

What’s the biggest misconception about vacant lots and burrowing owls? Yes, you can build on your vacant lot if you have burrowing owls or gopher tortoises. However, you first need to apply for a Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) Incidental Take Permit and go through the permitting process. If you have burrowing owls during the nesting season, you may have to wait till after the nesting season, but their presence will not prevent construction. 

Owl Watch monitors are going digital for the 2020 nesting season. The 80+ volunteers will be using the NestStory software to track individual burrows, the number of owls/chicks, and even track banded birds as well as take photos and write their observations—all from their cell phones. And the software will also track the presence of gopher tortoises near owl burrows. 

With 95% of owl burrows located on vacant lots or private properties, monitors are trained not to trespass on private properties and to observe from a distance with a pair of binoculars.