Photos taken at the Coyote Point Museum (separated by a pane of glass from photographer).
Burrowing owls have disappeared from significant portions of their range in the last 15 years and overall nearly 60% of the breeding groups of owls known to have existed during the 1980s had disappeared by the early 1990s. We describe important conservation issues in the four primary nesting areas of the state; the Imperial Valley, the Central Valley, the San Francisco Bay, and the southern California coast. Primary causes of population declines in California, as elsewhere, are human conversion of habitats and eradication of burrow-generating mammals. The California Burrowing Owl Consortium, formed in 1990, has contributed to increased conservation of this declining species.
Other links:
Center for Biological Diversity: Western Burrowing Owl
The Owl Pages
Santa Cruz Bird Club
Look below to see the second photo.
