My first activity on Wednesday was a presentation on burrowing owls put on by two ladies that are involved in research projects here in New Mexico. I knew that the populations of burrowing owls was declining - due to loss of habitat and the reduced number of prairie dogs. What I did not know was how little is known about certain aspects of burrowing owls' lives. I thought that burrowing owls were permanent residents in the Texas panhandle. Now I'm not so sure. It seems that they do migrate, but no one knows exactly where they go. They are doing research in New Mexico. They put radio collars on 26 burrowing owls and were hoping to locate them in Mexico. The last two years they have done some extensive studies of burrowing owls in Mexico. They were hoping to use the radio signals to locate the wintering owls. Unfortunately, no radio owls or banded owls have been found in Mexico.
They brought both a burrowing owl and a barn owl, both rehab animals used for education purposes.
I'm hoping I get to hear more about what they learn about burrowing owls over the next few years.
No comments:
Post a Comment