Burrowing Owl breeding pair census
for Yolo County 2014
Volunteers Needed

Burrowing Owl Preservation Society (BOPS) is planning a burrowing owl breeding pair census of Yolo County in 2014! The Institute for Bird Populations (IBP) has agreed to partner with BOPS to provide the scientific aspects of the census! This is a fantastic opportunity provide information essential to burrowing owl conservation planning!

Local birders will recall the IBP conducted a burrowing owl breeding pair census in 1993 and a two year state wide census in 2007.  The 2007 IBP estimated an 11% decline state wide in breeding pairs since 1993.

IBP will design the census method and anticipates it will be much the same as the 2007 method. Data will be collected by volunteer observers. Volunteers will survey mapped blocks, record detected owls, their location and report their data.  Data collection will be from May 15th to July 15th.  Hours of observation are dawn to 10:00 am and/or 4:00 pm to dusk. Volunteer training and support will be provided by BOPS.

BOPS and Yolo Audubon volunteer observers participated in both the IBP’s previous burrowing owl census. Their names are listed in the IBP 2007 report.

This is a huge undertaking! We will need a lot of help. Whatever your skills or interests are we can use you. Please call Catherine Portman 530-666-0882 to volunteer. If you wish to donate to support the census, send a check payable to BOPS, 14841 CR 91 B Woodland, CA 95695. Write “census” on the note line. Or you can donate via Pay Pal if you click the “donate” tab. BOPS is a 501c3 so your donation is tax deductible!

You can also support BOPS by going to eBay and buying a “Buster” tee-shirt. Search “burrowing owl tee-shirt”—our comes up first.

Sixty-two pairs of burrowing owls were detected in Yolo County in the 2007 census. Yolo County is included in a region labeled Middle Central Valley. IBP estimated an 8.2% decline in breeding pairs in the Middle Central Valley since their 1993 census.  You can find the entire 2007 report on IBP’s web site . Or click on the “population 2007” tab.