Burrowing Owl Festival
By: Eric Miller
Image by: Jim Rains /Great Backyard Bird Count
According to California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Burrowing Owls have been on the list of 'Species of Special Concern' since 2008. The Burrowing Owl is a unique species of birds that chases away squirrels, steals their burrows and calls it home. On Saturday, Feb. 29 the Chino campus held their second festival honoring the Burrowing Owl.
Michelle Priest, one of the festivals organizers, began the festival by thanking specific staff and facilitators of the event. Priest stated in an interview, "We can find a balance in that all organisms need a place that they can call home."
The Chino Campus wanted to express the importance of these creatures by allowing live birds of prey to be on the premises and guided bird walks. Many Chaffey students gave presentations about the Burrowing Owls. A presentation done by Carlos, had a Burrowing Owl puppet where he demonstrated how to see if a Burrowing Owl is stressed out by the presence of a human.
An area of concern during the presentations was stress. Stress could agitate this particular species of birds and use energy they could have used for other uses of survival. Student volunteers did a demonstration of how far a person should be from the Burrowing Owl's den, which is fifty feet away.
Moreover, there were booths with stuffed burrowing Owls so personnel could see what they look like up close. Some booths even had unattached wings for people to examine. Instructors explained why owls give no sound when in flight, compared to those of hawks that make sound when in flight.
One booth described the Delhi desert, how hawks and owls adapted to it and how the major predators of these birds are hawks which flew around the campus grounds. The organization, "The Conservation of Birds of Prey", compared the weight of the birds to many household items to show how light in weight they are. Burrowing Owls weigh four to seven ounces, which is less than a cup of sugar, Screeching owls weigh four ounces, Great Horned Owls weigh two and a half pounds, and a Barn Owl is exactly one pound.
The Burrowing Owl, as previously mentioned, keeps squirrels and other rodents away. The owl cannot make its own burrow so they often steal burrows or make their homes in construction sites. Sometimes they are killed by accident during the work hours.
California has placed the Burrowing Owls on the "concerned" list of species. If we want these species in our lifetime as well with many other animals we should pitch in to keep these creatures around.
When asked about the importance of Burrowing Owls Jacob Lovan stated, "The importance of the Owl Festival is to show off the only species of Owl that live in ground and they control population of squirrels and insects."