{"id":103129,"date":"2021-10-08T06:06:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T12:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=103129"},"modified":"2021-10-08T15:07:24","modified_gmt":"2021-10-08T21:07:24","slug":"a-plea-for-respect-for-burrowing-owls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2021\/10\/08\/a-plea-for-respect-for-burrowing-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"A Plea For Respect For Burrowing Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"

Occasionally I rerun a favorite older post, usually because most current blog followers have never seen it. This time my motivation was sparked by a couple of recent requests to use this particular post and\/or the images it contains for conservation and education purposes. Those requests reminded me of how important I think the message of this particular post is and since it’s been over nine years since it was published I decided it was past time for a rerun. <\/em><\/p>\n

For this version I’ve edited the text, tweaked the formatting and made a slight change to the title. If you’ve seen the earlier version of this post recently it’s because I may have linked to it in another post.<\/em><\/p>\n

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If there’s a group of birds on the face of the earth that is almost universally loved it seems to me that it would have to be owls.<\/p>\n

Folks are captivated by owls for their large forward-facing eyes, quizzical expressions, eerie vocalizations and the sense of mystery provided by their generally nocturnal habits. Others are intrigued by their many unique adaptations including silent flight and their ability to turn their heads 270 degrees.<\/p>\n

There’s just something<\/em> about owls…<\/p>\n

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For many of us Burrowing Owls are at the pinnacle of that adoration. Their comical antics, especially those of the juveniles, tug at our heartstrings and make us smile. And Burrowing Owls are more accessible to viewing than most owls because they’re active during daylight and spend much of their time on the ground close to their burrows instead of being hidden high up in trees.<\/p>\n

As a result of their accessibility, Burrowing Owls are extremely vulnerable to unthinking human intrusion, especially while they’re nesting and caring for chicks or juveniles.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, 500 f\/4, 1.4 tc<\/em><\/p>\n

In Utah the burrows of these owls are typically found among sagebrush, which they often use as perches during early morning. This allows the patient and ethical birder or photographer a good look at the birds without having to get too close in order to see through obstructing vegetation near the burrow.<\/p>\n

It’s not unusual for Burrowing Owls to nest close to roads and when they do they become accustomed to traffic. If you stay in your vehicle and are patient with them they will go about their normal, natural business without being unduly disturbed. But one must be mindful of any sign of nervousness, especially during nesting season.<\/p>\n

If the owls begin to bob their heads and “chatter” you are too close. These owls will abandon burrows and nests with too much human disturbance and their burrows may collapse from foot traffic so the burrows should never be approached closely. The populations of Burrowing Owls in North America have declined sharply in recent years from the cumulative effects of human activity and they have been listed as a “Species of Special Concern” by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in several western states, including Utah.<\/p>\n

They deserve our respect and need our help..<\/p>\n

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When I photograph Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island I always shoot from my pickup from the edge of the road. When their burrow is close to a road they usually become accustomed to vehicles but as soon as you exit your car their behavior immediately changes and they generally fly off so I never even open the door. However, when they’re caring for chicks or juveniles they’re much more reluctant to leave the area so they will typically fly a very short distance and show signs of alarm and stress.<\/p>\n

I’ve included the photo above to show you a typical scenario when I’m photographing Burrowing Owls from my pickup. The red arrow marks the owl.<\/p>\n

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Now to the heart of the matter. When I first started photographing birds there were Burrowing Owls near some rock piles southeast of the visitor center on Antelope Island and that burrow had been active for several years. Then one spring about five years ago they abandoned their burrow. I asked one of the employees at the visitors center what happened and he told me that the owls had been “loved to death” by human visitors to the island.<\/p>\n

Too many people had pushed them too far from too close.<\/p>\n

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Then I found another active burrow close to the road and photographed those birds for several years. They were acclimated to traffic and not disturbed if folks watched and photographed them from their vehicles. Early in the spring last year an obviously mated pair of owls showed up at the burrow and set up residence.<\/p>\n

But as I drove by the burrow on the morning of March 13, 2011 I was aghast at what I saw – a group of birders and photographers had left their cars and were walking over the burrow area, including tramping right over top of it. I never once saw two owls at the burrow after that day. One of the owls, the one in this photo, stuck around until mid-summer but after that it was gone and no chicks were produced that year at the burrow.<\/p>\n

While this owl was still there it would chatter in alarm and hide low in the sagebrush or fly off almost every time a vehicle stopped along the road – a behavior it had never exhibited before. I got very few images of this bird after “the incident”, partly because I didn’t want to disturb it further. This was one of the last shots I got of that owl, taken on 6\/22\/11.<\/p>\n

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Thankfully, a pair of owls showed up at the same burrow area this spring and raised a clutch of chicks. I’ve seen at least four of the fledglings and these are two of them. As you can see from their unmarked, buffy bellies these birds are still very young and they have been banded.<\/p>\n

At this age they spend much of their time on the ground hiding in the sagebrush and grasses while waiting for the parents to bring them food. It’s a bonus to catch them up on the sagebrush in good light like this.<\/p>\n

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Then it happened again.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, 6\/27\/12, as I drove by the burrow area there was a photographer who had left his vehicle and was photographing the owls at extremely close range in the immediate vicinity of the burrow and all the sagebrush that these owls habitually perch on (outlined in red).<\/p>\n

As I drove by with my\u00a0 windows down I could hear the adult owls screeching and chattering in alarm at his intrusion. I drove further up the road, then turned around and watched what was happening through my lens. The image quality of these last four shots is poor because I was so far away from what I was photographing. In this photo the photographer is walking toward one of the adult owls after he had flushed it to a new perch.<\/p>\n

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In this extreme crop of the previous image you can more clearly see the owl the photographer is approaching. At this point I was upset by what I was seeing so I left the area.<\/p>\n

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49 minutes later I returned to a slightly different vantage point and the photographer was still tramping amongst the owls. Of course the chicks were trying to hide in the grasses and sagebrush but the adult was reluctant to fly off very far with the youngsters in such a vulnerable situation.<\/p>\n

The photographer had been photographing the adult owl on the right when he apparently saw one of the chicks on the ground and was aiming his lens at it in this photo.<\/p>\n

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When the photographer would get too close the adult would flush and fly to another nearby sagebrush and the photographer would attempt to approach it again. This happened repeatedly.<\/p>\n

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You can extrapolate just how close this photographer was to one of the owls (out of frame to the right) by noticing the angle of his lens relative to the ground.<\/p>\n

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Please, lets all of us give Burrowing Owls the space and respect they need and deserve. If birders, bird photographers and the general public don’t start policing themselves I’m afraid restrictive regulations will be put in place to better protect these fragile birds (and others) from being “loved to death”. If we don’t do it, someone else will surely do it for us and it won’t be pretty.\u00a0 If that becomes necessary, everyone loses, including the owls.<\/p>\n

“The Shot” simply isn’t worth it..<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/p>\n