Burrowing Owls photos by Larry Jordan
Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia), a “species of special concern” in California, are currently being evicted from their homes in Antioch, California. This is a heinous practice being inflicted on these owls by the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG). Please visit JournOwl, Scott Artis’ blog to read about these birds and their plight. Donna Whitmarsh has written a piece on this situation available at Bay Nature.
According to “California Bird Species of Special Concern,” a study published jointly by Western Field Ornithologists and CDFG, and I quote, “Habitat loss and degradation from rapid urbanization of farmland in the core areas of the Central and Imperial valleys, is the greatest threat to Burrowing Owls in California. Ongoing urbanization in coastal regions, changes in agriculture practices , and continuing eradication of ground squirrels are also serious threats.”
So here we have the CDFG Environmental Scientist for Habitat Conservation Planning authorizing Kiper Development, Inc., the developer, to not only lock the owls out of their homes, she has authorized them to fumigate the burrows afterward to kill any remaining ground squirrels!
So in one fell swoop, they will have created habitat loss (with no relocation, banding or tracking of the owls to know whether they will even survive) and destroyed the ground squirrels in the area, contributing further to their overall demise.
Is this what the California Department of Fish and Game is suppose to be doing? According to their website “The Department of Fish and Game maintains native fish, wildlife, plant species and natural communities for their intrinsic and ecological value and their benefits to people. This includes habitat protection and maintenance in a sufficient amount and quality to ensure the survival of all species and natural communities. The department is also responsible for the diversified use of fish and wildlife including recreational, commercial, scientific and educational uses.”
I am urging people to write to John McCamman the Director of the CDFG to change these horrific practices and develop relocation practices to save the Burrowing Owl.
Here is an excerpt from a “Geological Survey of California, Ornithology Volume 1, Land Birds” published in 1870 and available via Google Books. Note the first line of the text paragraph for this bird, “Probably one of the most common birds in California and known to almost everybody…” not for long I fear.
Please help the Burrowing Owl by writing to the CDFG to stop these destructive practices and encourage relocation of these beautiful birds to other available habitat rather than aiding in their demise.
To see more photos of really cool birds, go check out Bird Photography Weekly. To see other places around the world, check out My World. For more great sky photos, get on over to Skywatch Friday!
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Done. Just wrote up a letter to those you mentioned. This is just insane. Thanks for the info.
.-= Jill´s last blog ..Pelicans in the Mist =-.
Thanks for this Larry..I will get right to it. Damn. We have lost tracts of wetland woods this past year for development we don’t need…..Damn… Michelle
@Jill thanks for your support. I think that letters coming from professionals like you will carry some weight on this matter. Please let me know if you receive any responses.
@Michelle thank you for being such a great supporter of our environment. Please let me know if you receive any responses.
That is so messed up…
.-= Corey´s last blog ..Another Charming Aviculturalist =-.
Thanks for the call to action to make a fundamental change to burrowing owl relocation procedures.
And yet this is just another example in which a once common species finds itself dwindling in numbers. Who could have guessed that these birds were at one time so plentiful that they were “known to almost everybody.”
.-= Scott´s last blog ..Burrowing Owls: No Homes for the Holidays? =-.
owl´s area special. For me, rarely seen. But I here them sometimes in the springtime. 🙂
.-= NatureFotostep Fåglar/Birds´s last blog ..DPW 69, Skäggdopping – Great Crested Grebe =-.
It is just so frustrating to know that those who were supposed to protect nature are the ones destroying them. I will write them a letter, Larry.
.-= bob k´s last blog ..Wrentit for a Day =-.
That’s a shame! Surely there are other places for development if it has to happen. Wish we could all learn to live in harmony with nature.
.-= Mick´s last blog ..Australian Wood Duck =-.
Utterly ridiculous! I did my part and wrote to the director. This has to stop! Thanks for bringing it to our attention Larry.
Have a very Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year 2010!
John
Birding in Maine
.-= MaineBirder´s last blog ..School’s out, birding is back =-.
Terrific insight.
.-= J Bar´s last blog ..Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Macquarie Night Lights =-.
Larry, this is sad news. The burrowing owl is so cute. I’ve never seen one, hopefully someday.
It seems just about everywhere in the US is being overdeveloped, they should put the brakes on.
I will write a letter also.
.-= Eileen´s last blog ..My snow birds =-.
By the way Larry, great photographs of the owls, the top one is really cool!
.-= Jill´s last blog ..Close Encounters with a Collared Lizard =-.
I see you stand up for the little birdies.
Damn this is just ridiculous..Hopefully writing and contacting the powers that be..will help this situation!
Great post…
Hope you have a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Fantastic New year!
♥.•*¨* *¨*•.♥
.-= Dawn Fine´s last blog ..Calico Hike when nephew David was visiting =-.
What a travesty… Though I don’t live in CA, I’ll write anyway. Tourism means money, and the owls definitely are on my list of things to see when next I visit.
Hi Larry,
Very interesting and instructive post. I think I will not take any part into the discussion right now, but you probably know what I think…
I’m leaving in holidays now and wanted to personally wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year…
See you in 2010..
Cheers, Chris.
.-= chris´s last blog ..Holidays greetings!!! =-.
Oh my gosh!!!! I thought California was supposed to be so progressive with environmental issues (I guess we have to remind the people in charge…). This just sounds horrible… I will most definitely write. Even though I don’t live there, I’d love to visit and see them.
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Little snowflake squirrel… =-.
Thank you everyone for being so proactive on behalf of the Western Burrowing Owl! I will continue to try to get the CDFG policies on this changed to prevent further degradation of BUOW numbers in California.
I have been given a grant by California Audubon to install Burrowing Owl habitat in northern California to help bring this species back to our area. If we can get this policy changed, I believe the conservation efforts for this species will benefit greatly
This is so wrong, and so sad.
.-= Wren´s last blog ..the more things change (my world) =-.
The people that live across the street from these burrowing owls live in houses that were also developed by a developer who evicted wildlife. Developers get their permits from the City or County. It is not up to Fish and Game to stop development. This is why YOU vote. All of us have allowed this (development) unless we don’t live in houses.
@Nancy I respectfully disagree. Not all homes are built on wildlife habitat. Some are much more destructive to wildlife than others. Some developers actually TRY to preserve the wildlife that their projects displace, others do not.
Although it is true that developers get their permits from the city or county, it is that entity’s legal obligation to determine if the project will have a detrimental affect on the environment and require said developer to perform the proper studies to measure that affect. Whether the City of Antioch did their job on this project is questionable and being looked into.
As far as the CDFG is concerned. You are correct, it is not up to them to stop development. As stated in the post, it is their job to ” include habitat protection and maintenance in a sufficient amount and quality to ensure the survival of all species and natural communities.”
My contention is that they are sadly failing in this regard with Western Burrowing Owls. The fact that they are encouraging the very actions which lead to the further demise of this species speaks for itself.
Rather than create a policy that encourages increasing this species habitat and capturing, banding and relocating any displaced owls to a new home, they continue with a policy bent on decreasing the possibility of a positive outcome.
I don’t expect developers to stop building homes but I do expect them to be environmentally conscious for all of our sakes. If they are not, I expect the proper authorities like the city handing out the permits and the CDFG to force that developer to do what’s right for the environment.
So, to sum up, I live in a house that was built on property with no wildlife evicted. As a matter of fact, there is more wildlife on our property since we developed it than there was before we bought it in 1980. To say that, because I live in a house, I allowed this development to occur in Antioch is ludicrous and not worthy of comment.
Also, I do vote. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe I have missed more than a handful of state, and very few national elections, since I turned 18 (and that was quite a few years ago).
I’m not sure what your priorities are Nancy. Realizing that you are the “Land Use” chair for a local neighborhood association, I would think that you would know about land development and environmental issues.
I am an environmental advocate. I believe in clean air, clean water and keeping the remaining species on the planet alive. I’m not asking for developers to stop building homes. I just want to make sure they do it in a way that the Earth and her species are protected.
This makes me wanna cry.
Why are people to this day and date still so stupid?
🙁
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Laughing dove, Palmtaube, Streptopelia senegalensis =-.
I just found out that a developer is taking over the remainder of land that was not developed a few years back when I bought my house. Since then, we have discovered these little beauties living in the empty lots in Brentwood, CA. What can we do to help protect the burrowing owls in our neighborhood?
I was in brentwood CA this past weekend and one of these owls landed on my car while i was at a gas station. It was one of the coolest things i have seen in a long time. I hope they stick around
This is sad. When will people realize that by the balance of nature they are hurting themselves?