The Owl Eye Magazine Issue 8
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<strong>Owl</strong> News<br />
Project Perch works to protect<br />
burrowing owls<br />
By Jan Engoren<br />
South Florida Sun-Sentinel<br />
June 27th 2017<br />
www.sun-sentinal.com<br />
<strong>The</strong> Audubon Society of the<br />
Everglades will have its next meeting<br />
July 11 to discuss Project Perch, a<br />
Florida burrowing owl translocation<br />
project. <strong>The</strong> owls are threatened<br />
because of loss of habitat and other<br />
manmade conditions and activities<br />
that jeopardize their colonies.<br />
Project Perch is working to stabilize and increase the burrowing owl populations in Southeastern Florida, principally through<br />
passive attraction to nearby schools and parks, which the owls like for their wide-open space.<br />
Crystal Lakes Elementary School in Boynton Beach provides habitat for the owls.<br />
"We want to let people know the Florida burrowing owls have been moved from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation<br />
Commission species of special concern to threatened last November," said Susan Davis, Project Perch coordinator for Palm Beach<br />
County.<br />
Burrows, owls and their eggs are protected from harassment and disturbance by state law.<br />
“We’ve been losing burrowing owls from Palm Beach and Broward counties for some time,” she said, noting that historically<br />
Broward County had the second largest population in the state after Lee County. <strong>The</strong> burrowing owl is one of the state’s smallest<br />
owls at 9 inches tall with a 21-inch wingspan. Of 171 species of owls worldwide, it’s the only owl that lives underground. <strong>The</strong>y have<br />
long legs and a short tail, are mostly brown with numerous white or tan spots and have white eyebrows just above bright yellow<br />
eyes.<br />
“We want to find out where the owls are living and see how we can help them,” Davis said. “If they’re imperiled, we create artificial<br />
burrows for them to live in.”<br />
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