Folks --

First, an important resource that any owl bander should possess is
Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I by Peter Pyle.
This is the Bible for Bird Banders and Part I includes all owls.
Part II is still in preparation (a multi-year task) and will be
available some time down the road for banders of diurnal raptors.

One of the little things to look for in ageing burrowing owls, and
this is true in other raptors as well, is to look for fault bars in
the feathers, and especially the tail.  Since the tail essentially
grows in all at once in fledglings, whereas the following molts have
tail feathers replaced sequentially, if you find an owl tail with
fault bars (stress marks) across the entire tail, this is a good
indication that the growing chick experienced some sort of stress,
such as food stress, as a baby while the tail was growing in, and
thus you are banding a juvenile bird, which would be labeled HY
(Hatching Year) or SY (Second Year) depending on what date you are
ageing the bird in the calendar year.    This is illustrated in
Figure 19, pp. 22, 23 of Pyle and described in the burrowing owl text
on page 86.

My mentor, the late Frances Hamerstrom published on the use of fault
bars to age birds of prey decades ago, using this same principal.
Here is the citation of her paper:

Hamerstrom, F. 1967. On the use of fault bars in ageing birds of
prey. Inland Bird Banding Association News 39: 35-41.


Happy owl banding!


Stan Moore    San Geronimo, CA      stangabboon@...

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the CA_BUOW_FORUM
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natseroom <stangabboon@...>

Journal of Wildlife Management
Article: pp. 1662–1668 | Full Text | PDF (104K)

Effects of Radiotransmitter Necklaces on Behaviors of Adult Male
Western Burrowing Owls
ERICA D. CHIPMANa, NANCY E. McINTYRE1,b, JAMES D. RAYc, MARK C.
WALLACEd, CLINT W. BOALe

a Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock,
TX 79409-3131, USA
b Department of Biological Sciences and Natural Science Research
Laboratory, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-3131, USA
c BWXT Pantex LLC, Pantex Plant, Building T-9061, Amarillo, TX 79120,
USA
d Department of Natural Resource Management, Texas Tech University,
Lubbock, TX 79409-2125, USA
e United States Geological Survey, Texas Cooperative Fish and
Wildlife Research Unit, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-
2120, USA

We studied the behavioral effects of necklace-style radiotransmitters
on breeding male western burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia hypugaea)
in 2 areas of northwestern Texas, USA, in 2004 and 2005. We tested
the hypothesis that transmittered owls would spend time interacting
with their necklaces and as a result spend less time in vigilance and
resting activities than would nontransmittered owls. Nontransmittered
owls (n = 6) spent significantly more time being vigilant (P = 0.007)
than did transmittered owls (n = 3) in 2004, who spent significant
amounts of time interacting with their necklaces. In 2005, behaviors
of transmittered owls (n = 8) were significantly different (P <
0.001) from control individuals (n = 4), but behaviors did not vary
consistently by treatment period (prenecklace vs. necklace vs.
postnecklace periods). Behavioral activity budgets varied
considerably among individuals. Although the owls spent a significant
amount of time interacting with their necklaces, they appeared to
habituate to the presence of the transmitters within a relatively
short period (<1 week), and necklaces did not affect survivorship or
fitness in the short-term.

Keywords: Athene cunicularia hypugaea, behavior, burrowing owl,
radiotelemetry, Texas, transmitter attachment

DOI: 10.2193/2006-335


1E-mail: nancy.mcintyre@...


Stan Moore notes:  though this study occurred in Texas, this
attachment technique for burrowing owls could be used in California.
I believe this report raises a red flag because the use of this
technique appears to violate guidelines for use of wild birds in
research, according to the Ornithological Council by altering
behaviors, and no attempt is made to evaluate long-term impacts if
these transmitters are left on the birds under study.

Hello,

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natseroom <stangabboon@...>

Dear Stan,
Thanks again for your posting of L Miller's Biography.
I have just posted a photo of a local BUOW to the Forum . The pic is
from Fernando Felix, a friend.I lead him to this owl's lodgings and
we found it in a resting position.
Regards
Francisco Hernandez-Baquero
Salinas, Guayas
SW Ecuador
South America
--- In CA_BUOW_FORUM@yahoogroups.com, "Stan Moore" <stangabboon@...>
wrote:
>
> see:   http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v088n02/p0276-p0285.pdf
>
>
> Folks --
>
> You know someone had a fabulous career when their obituary takes
up ten
> pages in The Auk!  Loye Holmes Miller was a great naturalist,
field
> researcher, a nature tour leader, a peleoornithologist, a beloved
> professor, father of two distinguished scientist sons.
>
> It is sad to think that our world has become so depauperized that
most
> young people living in today's world could never experience what
Loye
> Holmes Miller experienced.  But this realization places the onus
for
> those of us who love the natural world to try our best to conserve
wild
> nature and leave as much as possible for future generations.
>
> Stan Moore   San Geronimo, CA    stangabboon@...
>

see:   http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/Auk/v088n02/p0276-p0285.pdf


Folks --

You know someone had a fabulous career when their obituary takes up ten
pages in The Auk!  Loye Holmes Miller was a great naturalist, field
researcher, a nature tour leader, a peleoornithologist, a beloved
professor, father of two distinguished scientist sons.

It is sad to think that our world has become so depauperized that most
young people living in today's world could never experience what Loye
Holmes Miller experienced.  But this realization places the onus for
those of us who love the natural world to try our best to conserve wild
nature and leave as much as possible for future generations.

Stan Moore   San Geronimo, CA    stangabboon@...

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the CA_BUOW_FORUM
group.

   File        : /DoD Legacy Project.pdf
   Uploaded by : ryanryoung <ryanryoung@...>
   Description :

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Regards,

ryanryoung <ryanryoung@...>

I hope you can add it to the library as I couldn't access it through
the link... I got this message: "
404 Error - URL Not Found
   The URL you have attempted to retrieve either does not exist on this
server, has been moved, or has been improperly constructed. Please
check your source for URL accuracy.

You may be able to find the document by searching the Defense
Environmental Network & Information eXchange (DENIX) Web site."
Thanks!
Joyce Bender

http://www2.ucsc.edu/scpbrg/walton.htm

Brian Walton often hosted or participated in meetings of the California
Burrowing Owl Consortium.  He passed away unexpectedly last Friday.



Stan Moore     San Geronimo, CA     stangabboon@...

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the CA_BUOW_FORUM
group.

   File        : /Migratory-linkages-April-2006.pdf
   Uploaded by : natseroom <stangabboon@...>
   Description : DOD Legacy Resource Program for BUOWs

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pdf

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Regards,

natseroom <stangabboon@...>

https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Library/NCR/Animals_birds/Migrato
ry-linkages-April-2006.pdf

This research includes some California habitats on military facilities
where burrowing owls occur.   A description of this program is provided
at this link, and if I can download the entire file, I will add it to
the listserver website, or encourage others to do so.  (My home
computer has  dial-up connection and it is not always easy to
manipulate these large files).


Stan Moore

For anyone interested in these, I have added two new photo albums on
the website associated with this listserver, which any member can
peruse if you are registered with MyYahooGroups.com.

One album shows burrowing owls from the Sacramento and Central Valley
areas, including birds in hand and at least one live bird in the wild
and one dead bird in the wild.  The dead burrowing owl was a very
interesting case, which I saw while driving down a Sonoma County
rural highway one day.  Apparently, the owl had flushed from the
ground and caught its neck caught in the fork of a shrub, where it
hung and died.  My guess is that some mammal frightened the bird off
the ground and it unintentionally got caught up in the vegetation and
could not extricate itself.

The other album focuses on a trap design by East Bay resident Ron
Barklow, who is an Audubon Society volunteer who helped professional
researchers by building a custom cage trap design with one-way
doors.  He put a lot of care and skill into his trap design and
manufacture, and I photographed the one-way door and the cage and
cage weight from various angles so that anyone who viewed the photos
may be able to take the principles from the trap design and build
something similar for their own field work.

I hope interested parties find these photos useful and instructional.


Stan Moore

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the CA_BUOW_FORUM
group.

   File        : /texasBUOWroostsitecharacteristics.pdf
   Uploaded by : natseroom <stangabboon@...>
   Description : Texas wintering BUOW roost site characteristics

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ics.pdf

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Regards,

natseroom <stangabboon@...>

Hello --

I just discovered the existence of this listserve and decided to
join. I live in Sonoma County and am a very experienced raptor
bander, having trapped and banded thousands of raptors of many
species. I have a Federal authorization to color band burrowing owls
in California, and have banded some, but currently I am having
absolutely no success in obtaining California Fish and Game
Department permits to band burrowing owls. I hope to figure out how
to correct that problem, as I have received requests from biological
consultants who were asked by Fish and Game to band burrowing owls
prior to passive eviction, but who did not have the permits or the
expertise to do so. I would be willing to help in such situations if
DFG would issue the permits, but so far they have not and will not
even discuss the matter with me.

Nonetheless, I am very concerned about the conservation status of
burrowing owls in California. I supported the petition to list the
species that was prepared by the Center for Biological Diversity a
few years ago.

One thing I can do that might aid this group from time to time is to
share files on burrowing owls in the current research literature. I
go to a couple of Bay Area University libraries and gain access to
database search engines and electronic databases where I can often
down load pdf files of papers or at least relevant abstracts and
citations. I have downloaded a brand new paper by Lynn Trulio and
her associates just now in the files section of this listserver's
website.

One question though -- are listserver members interested in BUOW
research papers from other states in the U.S. or from foreign
research projects? I have a very recent pdf file I could share on
roost site characteristics from a Texas study, and occasionally run
into papers from south of the border, like food habits studies in
South America, etc. If the moderator or members are interested in
papers from outside California, please let me know and I will be
happy to share them from time to time.

Regards all,

Stan Moore San Geronimo, CA stangabboon@sbcglobal.net or
hawkman11@hotmail.com

Hello --

I just discovered the existence of this listserve and decided to
join. I live in Sonoma County and am a very experienced raptor
bander, having trapped and banded thousands of raptors of many
species.  I have a Federal authorization to color band burrowing owls
in California, and have banded some, but currently I am having
absolutely no success in obtaining California Fish and Game
Department permits to band burrowing owls.  I hope to figure out how
to correct that problem, as I have received requests from biological
consultants who were asked by Fish and Game to band burrowing owls
prior to passive eviction, but who did not have the permits or the
expertise to do so.  I would be willing to help in such situations if
DFG would issue the permits, but so far they have not and will not
even discuss the matter with me.

Nonetheless, I am very concerned about the conservation status of
burrowing  owls in California.  I supported the petition to list the
species that was prepared by the Center for Biological Diversity a
few years ago.

One thing I can do that might aid this group from time to time is to
share files on burrowing owls in the current research literature.  I
go to a couple of Bay Area University libraries and gain access to
database search engines and electronic databases where I can often
down load pdf files of papers or at least relevant abstracts and
citations.  I have downloaded a brand new paper by Lynn Trulio and
her associates just now in the files section of this listserver's
website.

One question though -- are listserver members interested in BUOW
research papers from other states in the U.S. or from foreign
research projects?  I have a very recent pdf file I could share on
roost site characteristics from a Texas study, and occasionally run
into papers from south of the border, like food habits studies in
South America, etc.  If the moderator or members are interested in
papers from outside California, please let me know and I will be
happy to share them from time to time.

Regards all,

Stan Moore     San Geronimo, CA      stangabboon@... or
hawkman11@...

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the CA_BUOW_FORUM
group.

   File        : /buow modeling management.pdf
   Uploaded by : natseroom <stangabboon@...>
   Description : trulio paper management modeling

You can access this file at the URL:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CA_BUOW_FORUM/files/buow%20modeling%20management.p\
df

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Regards,

natseroom <stangabboon@...>

Does anyone know the CDFG contact for burrowing owls in San Diego
county? I am assoicated with an organization that has captive
burrowing owls that have started to produce viable eggs and would like
to set up a propagation program. Is anyone familar with the permit
process for a propagation program?

Thanks in advance,

Julie

LA CO Sanitation Districts is proposing leaving irrigation stand pipes
that will not be directly in the way of  proposed alfalfa fields
designed to receive treated wastewater and was wondering if the minimum
buffers as recommended by DFG and Burrowing Owl Consortium should  apply
as far as agricultural uses near buow active burrows. The Sanitation
district is willing to leave the stand pipes to provide  burrow habitat
for buows near the ag fields as a good faith (and cheap) mitigation
effort for loss of occupied habitat for buows as the result of resumed
and new ag. activity on previously fallow/desert scrub habitat. I gather
that many of these pipes will be in closer proximity to ag. operations
than recommend buffers but I am not told how close. DFG has been
unsuccessful through the CEQA process in persuading the LACSD to perform
any meaningful mitigation and creation of artificial burrows/habitat
protection for burrowing owls in this area of the Antelope Valley.  I
think leaving standpipes is probably a good idea and owls should thrive
near the alfalfa fields. Anyone have any experience with tolerance
levels of buows with this type of agricultural practice, especially
nesting activity and successful rearing of young?

Hi Scott,

 

There are a lot of problems with passive relocation.  Probably a bigger problem is increased predation issues if there no other shelter sites nearby.

 

There are a lot of possible variables/methods regarding passive relocation: types of one-way doors, time they are left in,  proximity to other shelter sites, time of year, scoping/digging up burrows after doors have been in place for 24-48 hrs, level of experience of those doing the work and predators in the area.  I haven't had or heard of this problem but, as Keith mentioned, reluctant owls are usually dealt with when the burrow is dug up. 

 

I guess I would like to know more about the particular circumstances.

How did the consultant know that all the owls were still in the burrow?

Without full time monitoring (both day and night) it would seem hard to tell for sure.   

 

They might try installing the door during dawn/dusk-high activity period when most of the owls are out foraging.  At least some might already be out and may encourage the others in the burrow to follow suit.

 

I was discussing passive relocation with Esther Burkett the other day and we were both concurring that there should be a permit in place authorzing people to do this potentially delicate procedure or at least a workshop put on by, perhaps, the consortium so biologists are on the same page and have demonstrated a minimum level of experience.

 

Ryan

 

 

dfgrfive <spharris@...> wrote:

A consultant I spoke with today told me that in his opinion and 
experience, using a one way trap door over a buow burrow as a passive
eviction method does not work. He said in one of his observations, the
owls were afraid of the trap door and did not leave the burrow (even if
the trap door is clear). The owls still refused to leave the burrow 
two days after installing the doors. This would leave them in a weakend
condition and subject to possible mortality. Any others with similar
experiences or opinions or endorsements of this method of passive
eviction? 

Scott

______________________________

Ryan Young
Phoenix Ecological Consulting
PO Box 720949
Pinon Hills CA 92372-0949
949 887 0859 cell
661 261 3390 office
661 261 3391 fax
______________________________

---

Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.

A consultant I spoke with today told me that in his opinion and 
experience, using a one way trap door over a buow burrow as a passive
eviction method does not work. He said in one of his observations, the
owls were afraid of the trap door and did not leave the burrow (even if
the trap door is clear). The owls still refused to leave the burrow 
two days after installing the doors. This would leave them in a weakend
condition and subject to possible mortality. Any others with similar
experiences or opinions or endorsements of this method of passive
eviction? 

Scott

A consultant I spoke with today told me that in his opinion and
experience, using a one way trap door over a buow burrow as a passive
eviction method does not work. He said in one of his observations, the
owls were afraid of the trap door and did not leave the burrow (even if
the trap door is clear). The owls still refused to leave the burrow
two days after installing the doors. This would leave them in a weakend
condition and subject to possible mortality. Any others with similar
experiences or opinions or endorsements of this method of passive
eviction?

Scott

I have a pair of Owls that have about 8 owlets running around the
mouth of their burrow.  I was watching them for awhile during some MGS
trapping today.

There is also a pair of ravens nearby that have 3 juvenile ravens to
feed.  Turns out ravens have a fondness for eating owlets.  The ravens
sat up in a Joshua Tree above the burrow waiting for the owlets to
come out.  The Joshua Tree is also the favorite perch for the male owl
to hunt from.  So not only were all the owls hiding in the burrow
waiting for the ravens to clear out but the male owl could not hunt
effectively.

I also observed a pair of ravens take a juvenile owl last year also.

Ryan,

I forgot to ask. Has this technique been used on burrowing owls that you know of?  Thanks.

Scott

>>> ryanryoung@... 5/7/2006 7:51:09 PM >>>
Hi Scott,
  
  I think foraging habitat/territory can be determined by observing burrowing owls provided the observer has some previous experience and can watch the owls for 3-5 days.  I used to help determine southwestern willow flycatcher territory size by observations only up at Kern River and that was in dense riparian vegetation.    It seems to work best when two people on opposite ends of the burrow can observe the owls and watch where they go.  Two observers are ideal so that if one person loses a bird the other hopefully can see it.   The important part is that the observers stay far enough way to avoid disturbing the behavior and remain quiet and wear muted colors.  A bird blind would help but it needs to be set up in advance to let the owls acclimate to it.  Unfortunately, they do not work well during the windy months in the high desert.
  It is definitely easier during the breeding season to observe owls when they have stronger site fidelity to a particular burrow and area.  Usually the male can be seen busily hunting and bringing food back to the burrow.  Radio telemetry would be prefered but I think you can get a pretty good estimate using observations alone.
  In the willow flycatcher study we would put out flagging along the established perimeter which was determined by wherever the birds were seen perched/foraging and then use a GPS to determine acreage.  The birds were banded which helped in sorting out individuals.
  
  Hope this helps somewhat.
  
  Ryan
  
 

"Scott P. Harris" <spharris@...> wrote:
  Greetings,

Determining habitat use by buow on specific sites soon to be developed is important in determining mitigation measures for lost habitat. The buow consortium and DFG mitigation guidelines specify a min. of 6.5 acres of available habitat per pair or unpaired bird. Unless information exists that specific owls use greater than 6.5 acres on any specific site,  the 6.5 acres is used as the default acreage in any mitigation ratio equation and may  be selling habitat acquisition mitigation short.  Without monitoring birds via radio tracking it would be difficult it seems to delineate the actual size of habitat used and  to defend how habitat use was determined.  Telemetry studies on proposed dev. sites would be a hard sell on developers under projects subject to CEQA although quite appropriate to det. actual impacts on buow habitat. DFG at the moment is not advocating putting transmitters on buows so this is not even an option at the moment as far as I am aware.

Any thoughts or comments on this?  Are there alternative methods to get a ball park for size if habitat used  by buows that anyone has tried and is willing to defend as far as accuracy? How realistic is just observing how far the owls are flying around the site to get a general idea of site use? This would seem difficult and would depend  on site conditions topography, veg cover etc.  I would imagine.

Scott




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______________________________

Ryan Young
Phoenix Ecological Consulting
PO Box 720949
Pinon Hills CA 92372-0949
949 887 0859 cell
661 261 3390 office
661 261 3391 fax
______________________________
           
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Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the CA_BUOW_FORUM
group.

   File        : /Burrowing_Owl___DDE___voles_Gervais_et_al_2006[1].pdf
   Uploaded by : naturalistuk <naturalistuk@...>
   Description : New paper on the effects of prey onBurrowing Owl population
dynamics

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Ryan,

I forgot to ask. Has this technique been used on burrowing owls that you know
of?  Thanks.

Scott

>>> ryanryoung@... 5/7/2006 7:51:09 PM >>>
Hi Scott,

   I think foraging habitat/territory can be determined by observing burrowing
owls provided the observer has some previous experience and can watch the owls
for 3-5 days.  I used to help determine southwestern willow flycatcher territory
size by observations only up at Kern River and that was in dense riparian
vegetation.    It seems to work best when two people on opposite ends of the
burrow can observe the owls and watch where they go.  Two observers are ideal so
that if one person loses a bird the other hopefully can see it.   The important
part is that the observers stay far enough way to avoid disturbing the behavior
and remain quiet and wear muted colors.  A bird blind would help but it needs to
be set up in advance to let the owls acclimate to it.  Unfortunately, they do
not work well during the windy months in the high desert.
   It is definitely easier during the breeding season to observe owls when they
have stronger site fidelity to a particular burrow and area.  Usually the male
can be seen busily hunting and bringing food back to the burrow.  Radio
telemetry would be prefered but I think you can get a pretty good estimate using
observations alone.
   In the willow flycatcher study we would put out flagging along the established
perimeter which was determined by wherever the birds were seen perched/foraging
and then use a GPS to determine acreage.  The birds were banded which helped in
sorting out individuals.

   Hope this helps somewhat.

   Ryan



"Scott P. Harris" <spharris@...> wrote:
   Greetings,

Determining habitat use by buow on specific sites soon to be developed is
important in determining mitigation measures for lost habitat. The buow
consortium and DFG mitigation guidelines specify a min. of 6.5 acres of
available habitat per pair or unpaired bird. Unless information exists that
specific owls use greater than 6.5 acres on any specific site,  the 6.5 acres is
used as the default acreage in any mitigation ratio equation and may  be selling
habitat acquisition mitigation short.  Without monitoring birds via radio
tracking it would be difficult it seems to delineate the actual size of habitat
used and  to defend how habitat use was determined.  Telemetry studies on
proposed dev. sites would be a hard sell on developers under projects subject to
CEQA although quite appropriate to det. actual impacts on buow habitat. DFG at
the moment is not advocating putting transmitters on buows so this is not even
an option at the moment as far as I am aware.

Any thoughts or comments on this?  Are there alternative methods to get a ball
park for size if habitat used  by buows that anyone has tried and is willing to
defend as far as accuracy? How realistic is just observing how far the owls are
flying around the site to get a general idea of site use? This would seem
difficult and would depend  on site conditions topography, veg cover etc.  I
would imagine.

Scott




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---------------------------------






______________________________

Ryan Young
Phoenix Ecological Consulting
PO Box 720949
Pinon Hills CA 92372-0949
949 887 0859 cell
661 261 3390 office
661 261 3391 fax
______________________________

---------------------------------
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Ryan,

Yes this helps a lot. Thanks for the input.

Scott

>>> ryanryoung@... 5/7/2006 7:51:09 PM >>>
Hi Scott,

   I think foraging habitat/territory can be determined by observing burrowing
owls provided the observer has some previous experience and can watch the owls
for 3-5 days.  I used to help determine southwestern willow flycatcher territory
size by observations only up at Kern River and that was in dense riparian
vegetation.    It seems to work best when two people on opposite ends of the
burrow can observe the owls and watch where they go.  Two observers are ideal so
that if one person loses a bird the other hopefully can see it.   The important
part is that the observers stay far enough way to avoid disturbing the behavior
and remain quiet and wear muted colors.  A bird blind would help but it needs to
be set up in advance to let the owls acclimate to it.  Unfortunately, they do
not work well during the windy months in the high desert.
   It is definitely easier during the breeding season to observe owls when they
have stronger site fidelity to a particular burrow and area.  Usually the male
can be seen busily hunting and bringing food back to the burrow.  Radio
telemetry would be prefered but I think you can get a pretty good estimate using
observations alone.
   In the willow flycatcher study we would put out flagging along the established
perimeter which was determined by wherever the birds were seen perched/foraging
and then use a GPS to determine acreage.  The birds were banded which helped in
sorting out individuals.

   Hope this helps somewhat.

   Ryan



"Scott P. Harris" <spharris@...> wrote:
   Greetings,

Determining habitat use by buow on specific sites soon to be developed is
important in determining mitigation measures for lost habitat. The buow
consortium and DFG mitigation guidelines specify a min. of 6.5 acres of
available habitat per pair or unpaired bird. Unless information exists that
specific owls use greater than 6.5 acres on any specific site,  the 6.5 acres is
used as the default acreage in any mitigation ratio equation and may  be selling
habitat acquisition mitigation short.  Without monitoring birds via radio
tracking it would be difficult it seems to delineate the actual size of habitat
used and  to defend how habitat use was determined.  Telemetry studies on
proposed dev. sites would be a hard sell on developers under projects subject to
CEQA although quite appropriate to det. actual impacts on buow habitat. DFG at
the moment is not advocating putting transmitters on buows so this is not even
an option at the moment as far as I am aware.

Any thoughts or comments on this?  Are there alternative methods to get a ball
park for size if habitat used  by buows that anyone has tried and is willing to
defend as far as accuracy? How realistic is just observing how far the owls are
flying around the site to get a general idea of site use? This would seem
difficult and would depend  on site conditions topography, veg cover etc.  I
would imagine.

Scott




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______________________________

Ryan Young
Phoenix Ecological Consulting
PO Box 720949
Pinon Hills CA 92372-0949
949 887 0859 cell
661 261 3390 office
661 261 3391 fax
______________________________

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Greetings,

Determining habitat use by buow on specific sites soon to be developed is important in determining mitigation measures for lost habitat. The buow consortium and DFG mitigation guidelines specify a min. of 6.5 acres of available habitat per pair or unpaired bird. Unless information exists that specific owls use greater than 6.5 acres on any specific site,  the 6.5 acres is used as the default acreage in any mitigation ratio equation and may  be selling habitat acquisition mitigation short.  Without monitoring birds via radio tracking it would be difficult it seems to delineate the actual size of habitat used and  to defend how habitat use was determined.  Telemetry studies on proposed dev. sites would be a hard sell on developers under projects subject to CEQA although quite appropriate to det. actual impacts on buow habitat. DFG at the moment is not advocating putting transmitters on buows so this is not even an option at the moment as far as I am aware.

Any thoughts or comments on this?  Are there alternative methods to get a ball park for size if habitat used  by buows that anyone has tried and is willing to defend as far as accuracy? How realistic is just observing how far the owls are flying around the site to get a general idea of site use? This would seem difficult and would depend  on site conditions topography, veg cover etc.  I would imagine.

Scott

Greetings,

Determining habitat use by buow on specific sites soon to be developed is
important in determining mitigation measures for lost habitat. The buow
consortium and DFG mitigation guidelines specify a min. of 6.5 acres of
available habitat per pair or unpaired bird. Unless information exists that
specific owls use greater than 6.5 acres on any specific site,  the 6.5 acres is
used as the default acreage in any mitigation ratio equation and may  be selling
habitat acquisition mitigation short.  Without monitoring birds via radio
tracking it would be difficult it seems to delineate the actual size of habitat
used and  to defend how habitat use was determined.  Telemetry studies on
proposed dev. sites would be a hard sell on developers under projects subject to
CEQA although quite appropriate to det. actual impacts on buow habitat. DFG at
the moment is not advocating putting transmitters on buows so this is not even
an option at the moment as far as I am aware.

Any thoughts or comments on this?  Are there alternative methods to get a ball
park for size if habitat used  by buows that anyone has tried and is willing to
defend as far as accuracy? How realistic is just observing how far the owls are
flying around the site to get a general idea of site use? This would seem
difficult and would depend  on site conditions topography, veg cover etc.  I
would imagine.

Scott

Hello and welcome to those who have already joined.

To those that are not aware, the Center for Biological diversity just
sent out an action network alert for CA Burrowing Owls.

Cut and paste the link below to reach the webpage.

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/Give_a_hoot_ca?rk=UpqUxCS12zy8E

Thanks