Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

Poulin, Ray G.; Todd, L. Danielle; Haug, Elizabeth A.; Millsap, Brian A.; Martell, Mark S.

doi:10.2173/bow.burowl.01

Cited by 37 publications

(53 citation statements)

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“…The western burrowing owl (A. c. hypugaea) breeds throughout much of California and other western states, but on the Farallones these owls are strictly overwintering migrants (no records of breeding; DeSante and Ainley 1980, Gervais et al 2008, Poulin et al 2011. Owls arrive on the Farallones during their southbound fall migration, usually starting in September and peaking in October when the mouse population is also at its annual peak (Irwin 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas some owls may depart fairly quickly, others remain on the islands for up to four months or more, all departing by May (DeSante and Ainley 1980;Point Blue, unpublished data). Burrowing owls are generally considered opportunists and feed on a variety of prey items including invertebrates and small vertebrates, with rodents dominating by biomass (Poulin et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating population impacts of predation by owls on storm petrels in relation to proposed island mouse eradication

et al. 2019

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We quantify the expected demographic benefit to a seabird of conservation concern, the ashy storm‐petrel Oceanodroma homochroa, from the proposed eradication of introduced house mice Mus musculus on the South Farallon Islands, California. A key objective of the eradication is to reduce storm petrel predation by burrowing owls Athene cunicularia, which stopover on the island during their fall migration. Mouse trapping and field surveys of both owls and depredated storm petrel carcasses conducted during 2000–2012 reveal a strongly seasonal, inter‐related pattern among the three species: When owls arrive during the fall, mice are super‐abundant and the overwhelming choice of prey for those owls that remain. In the winter, the mouse population crashes just as storm petrels begin to arrive in large numbers; owls that remain on the island switch to preying upon storm petrels until May, when they depart to breed. Capture–recapture analyses of storm petrels showed (1) annual adult survival was inversely related to owl abundance, especially during January–April, and (2) storm petrels demonstrated a declining trend in abundance 2006–2012. The latter was associated with low rates of adult survival, high abundance of overwintering burrowing owls, and high incidence of depredated storm petrels. To evaluate projected impacts to storm petrels of a change in owl predation, we developed a Leslie matrix model, incorporating environmental stochasticity. We modeled future storm petrel population trajectories, allowing for different levels of owl‐mediated predation. Our results suggest that a reduction in owl abundance, a projected consequence of the elimination of mice, has the potential to substantially reduce overall storm petrel mortality, thereby reducing storm petrel declines and increasing the likelihood of stable trends in the future. While long‐term benefits to storm petrels of mouse eradication are apparent, the risk of increased predation due to prey‐switching by owls also needs to be addressed. This study highlights uncertainty of outcomes, which must be considered in evaluating management impacts. This study demonstrates the value of concurrent, continuous, long‐term datasets in providing a quantitative basis for management to aid the conservation of species of concern.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating population impacts of predation by owls on storm petrels in relation to proposed island mouse eradication

et al. 2019

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“…Our results showed that burrowing owls use lapwings' alarm calls as a warning signal, switching to a defensive alert behaviour when (and after) they are exposed to such sound. In Colorado, where burrowing owls are strongly associated with prairie dogs (Poulin et al, 2011;Ray et al, 2016), previous studies demonstrated that burrowing owls respond to the alarms calls of this mammal, increasing their alert behaviour (Bryan and Wunder, 2013). Further, Henderson (2013) found that California ground squirrels help burrowing owls to reduce risk through alarm calling vocalizations and vigilance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…prairie dogs Cynomys sp., squirrels Spermophilus sp. ), given that it depends on abandoned burrows of these mammals for nesting (Poulin et al, 2011). Previous studies have shown that burrowing owls eavesdrop on the alarm calls of associated mammals using these signals as indicators of risk (Coloumbe, 1971;Martin, 1973), which allow them to optimize their vigilance rate (Bryan and Wunder, 2013;Henderson, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Burrowing owls eavesdrop on southern lapwings’ alarm calls to enhance their antipredatory behaviour

Cavalli

Baladrón

Isacch

et al. 2018

Behavioural Processes

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“…Western Burrowing Owls (A. c. hypugaea) occur in grasslands, steppes, deserts, prairies, and some agricultural lands of western North America (Poulin et al 2011). Northern populations tend to be migratory, whereas those in the southern US and Mexico may be year-round residents (Poulin et al 2011). In southwestern Idaho, Burrowing Owls are typically present from March to October, but occasionally individuals occupy the study area during winter.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Breeding Dispersal By Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) In Idaho

Riding

Belthoff

2018

Journal of Raptor Research

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Breeding dispersal, the movement between successive breeding sites, is important to many aspects of life history and population dynamics but poorly understood for many raptor populations. We used longitudinal data collected from Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) nesting in southwestern Idaho from 1994-2007 to examine characteristics of breeding dispersal behavior. First, we measured frequency and distance of breeding dispersal and compared those to published results from other owl populations. The dispersal frequency (78%, n ¼ 86) was greater than previously reported for any Burrowing Owl population and for most owl species. The mean distance dispersed (835 6 98 m [SE]) was slightly greater than reported distances for most other Burrowing Owl populations. Second, we examined factors associated with two decisions owls faced between breeding seasons: whether to move to a new nest site (dispersal likelihood), and how far to move if dispersing to a new site (dispersal distance). We assessed the potential effects of sex, productivity, age, and site quality on breeding dispersal likelihood and distance. Owls were more likely to disperse if they were female and if they had fledged fewer young in the previous breeding season. Nesting failure was a perfect predictor of breeding dispersal, but high productivity did not always result in philopatry. Owls dispersed farther if they were relatively younger, female, had lower productivity in the previous breeding season, and had previously nested in lower quality sites. Our comparisons to other studies indicate that the factors that most influence breeding dispersal behavior in Burrowing Owls appear to vary among populations and may relate to migration tendency and geographic heterogeneity.

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Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

Cited by 37 publications

References 0 publications

Evaluating population impacts of predation by owls on storm petrels in relation to proposed island mouse eradication

Evaluating population impacts of predation by owls on storm petrels in relation to proposed island mouse eradication

Burrowing owls eavesdrop on southern lapwings’ alarm calls to enhance their antipredatory behaviour

Breeding Dispersal By Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia) In Idaho

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