Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Wilson Journal of Ornithology

Home range and dispersal of juvenile Florida Burrowing Owls.

Article Excerpt
Early observations of Florida Burrowing Owls (Athene cunicularia floridana) describe their propensity to excavate burrows in short grass habitat (Hoxie 1889, Rhoads 1892, Scott 1892, Palmer 1896). Typically, a breeding pair of owls excavate one breeding burrow and one or more satellite burrows (Scott 1892, Neill 1954, Wesemann 1986, Mealey 1997). Burrows, which can be 1-3 m in length, contain an enlarged nest chamber at their terminus (Rhoads 1892, Scott 1892, Nicholson 1954, Sprunt 1954). Male and female Florida Burrowing Owls can breed at 1 year of age (Haug et al. 1993) with most females laying eggs in the spring (Nicholson 1954, Courser 1976, Millsap and Bear 1990). However, nesting can occur between October and July with 2-10 eggs/nest (Rhoads 1892, Scott 1892, Nicholson 1954, Owre 1978, Stevenson and Anderson 1994). Previous ecological research on Florida Burrowing Owls has occurred during the breeding period in urban areas including college campuses (Courser 1976), private residences (Mealey 1997), and vacant lots (Wesemann 1986; Millsap and Bear 1990, 1997, 2000).

The majority of ecological data on Florida Burrowing Owls in rural areas is observational and was collected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries on dry prairie habitat in southcentral Florida (Ridgway 1874, Cahoon 1885, Hoxie 1889, Rhoads 1892, Scott 1892, Palmer 1896, Bent 1938, Nicholson 1954). There are no published studies from rural areas (agricultural lands, grazing land for cattle, and areas managed or maintained as natural habitat) in Florida that document productivity, survival, prey preference, dispersal, or habitat requirements (breeding and post-breeding) of Burrowing Owls.

Identifying habitat requirements for Florida Burrowing Owls in rural areas is particularly important because of the rate of habitat loss due to development. Florida's human population is the third fastest growing in the nation (U.S. Department of Census 2004) and a variety of habitats is being lost such as upland forests (Sprott and Mazzotti 2001), scrub oak (Myers 1990), and prairie habitats (Abrahamson and Hartnett 1990). There are no management strategies for Burrowing Owls in rural environments (Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission 2004a).

The objectives of our study were to estimate home range size and dispersal of juvenile Burrowing Owls in a rural environment. We also estimated size of home range of juvenile Burrowing Owls during the breeding season,...