Update: Burrowing Owl Feeding Program
The Feeding Program for the owls is showing good results this year, and donations to the program continue to grow. So far we have collected $500 for the purchase of mice. Noah, our partner at Grasslands National Park, has given us this update:
Summer has arrived in Grasslands National Park (GNP)! The endangered burrowing owls are hard at work feeding their chicks, which began to hatch in early June. Recently, park staff have found grasshoppers, crickets, moths, beetles, snakes, birds, and small rodents as prey items at owl nests. Resource Conservation staff from GNP have also been busy conducting supplemental owl feeding. The park is feeding owl nests 14 mice twice per week during the months of June and July with the goal of improving chick survival.
Preliminary data indicate that feeding may be contributing to recent increases in the number of burrowing owl pairs. As of late June, there have been 31 confirmed owl nests found on Black-tailed Prairie Dog Colonies in the West Block of GNP. Park staff still expect more nests to be found in the coming weeks. Considering that more nests are likely to be found as the summer continues, the numbers for 2021 are comparing well with data from last year, when there were 37 nesting pairs and 2 singles recorded in the West Block of GNP. These recent numbers are more than double the number of nests found between 2016 and 2019 (an average of 14 nests per year).
In July, the park will be surveying prairie dog colonies to determine how many chicks survive to fledging, which is when chicks begin to fly and be independent. Last year, there were over 200 owl fledglings recorded in the park! All of this is great news for one of Canada’s most iconic prairie species at risk!
