Wildlife Volunteer Corps Digs in to Help Burrowing Owls

May 31, 2011

Defenders’ Wildlife Volunteer Corps got down and dirty last month, dedicating a Sunday’s worth of hard labor to help bring burrowing owls back to Sonoma, California.

The team buried several 55-gallon plastic drums that had been specially adapted for these unusual, ground-dwelling raptors.

Eschewing life in tall trees, burrowing owls, as their name implies, prefer to make their homes underground — usually taking up residence in tunnels dug by other animals such as ground squirrels. But habitat loss in the region has taken a heavy toll on the local population, which had all but vanished by the mid-1980s.

Check out this video by Defenders’ California program coordinator, Pamela Flick, to see the Wildlife Volunteer Corps in action and to learn more about burrowing owls.

Defenders’ Wildlife Volunteer Corps got down and dirty last month, dedicating a Sunday’s worth of hard labor to help bring burrowing owls back to Sonoma, California. The team buried several 55-gallonplastic drums that had been specially adapted for these unusual, ground-dwelling raptors.Eschewing life in tall trees, burrowing owls, as their name implies, prefer to make their homes underground — usually taking up residence in tunnels dug by other animals such as ground squirrels. But habitat loss in the region has taken a heavy toll on the local population, which had all but vanished by the mid-1980s.

Check out this video by Defenders’ California program coordinator, Pamela Flick, to see the Wildlife Volunteer Corps in action and to learn more about burrowing owls.