Burrowing Owls Closer to Securing Protections Under California Endangered Species Act 

The small, piercing yellow eyes and feathered heads of western burrowing owls could once be seen bobbing in and out of underground nests across California’s grasslands. But these unique birds are rapidly disappearing. 

The number of western burrowing owls — the only owl species that nests and roosts underground — is shrinking across the state, having vanished from 19 of the 51 California counties they once inhabited and nearing extinction in 10 others, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

But there is hope for these burrowers. A petition filed by conservation groups in March 2024 seeks to secure the owls’ protection under the California Endangered Species Act. And the California Department of Fish and Wildlife recently agreed that such protection may be warranted.

While the owls were once widespread throughout California’s low-lying grasslands and deserts, many have lost their homes to exurban sprawl, agriculture, and wind and energy infrastructure. Some are killed by rodenticides and collisions with wind turbines and cars. Others are victims of the persecution of squirrels and other ground-dwelling mammals whose underground burrows the owls rely on for nesting and roosting. 

As a result, only about 225 breeding pairs are left in central-western and southwestern California.

Fish and Wildlife is recommending that the state’s Fish and Game Commission accept the petition for further consideration. It will then vote on whether to advance the burrowing owl to “candidate” status at its October 10 meeting. 

If the burrowing owl becomes a candidate, the department would have 12 to 18 months to conduct a full status review before the commission votes on an endangered or threatened designation.

However, in the meantime, scientists and environmentalists have already taken steps to help the owls. That includes at the UC Santa Barbara North Campus, where volunteers fashioned burrows out of rocks for the owls as part of restoration efforts for the area. In other areas, researchers have made artificial burrows out of materials such as pipes and bricks. 

Still, even with scientists’ best efforts, “in mere decades, California has seen the decimation of formerly thriving populations of burrowing owls, once one of the more common birds in California,” said Scott Artis with Urban Bird Foundation, one of the conservation groups that worked on the petition. 

Protecting the burrowing owl under the state Endangered Species Act would help bridge the gap by requiring state and local agencies to manage threats. That would include ending the state policy of allowing owls to be excluded or removed from lands slated for development. It could also require more robust mitigation for habitat loss, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

“The commission should advance these state protections so California’s adorable burrowing owls can continue to grace grasslands and open spaces,” said Jeff Miller, a senior conservation advocate at the center. “I’ve witnessed these owls disappearing from much of the state over the past two decades, and it pains me to watch their homes be bulldozed.”