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with Phyllis Yochem
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Tuesday, February 22, 2000
Caught between a clod and a hard place to find, an owl lays low
Birders plow through dirt field to catch glimpse of uncommon, long-legged burrowing owl
Burrowing owls are "small, ear-tuftless, very long-legged terrestrial owls with yellow eyes and stub tails." Thus begins the description given in Oberholser's "The Bird Life of Texas." Brown upper parts and breast, it continues, are spotted white and a blackish collar separates the whitish throat and upper chest. Adults are about nine inches tall. This description conjures an accurate image of the odd, wistful, almost human figure of the irresistible little bird.
When Jean Abney called recently to tell me one had been sighted in fields between Portland and Odem I could hardly wait to try to find it. Burrowing owls breed in Canada and the northwest. A study is in progress by ornithologists who have fitted nesting Canadian birds with radio devices in order to be able to track them. They want to find out how many of the birds winter in this area, where they are located, and what happens to those that are lost. They arrive here in late October or early November and probably leave in early March.
Burrowing owls nest in the ground in abandoned holes of prairie dogs, rabbits, armadillos, and other small animals, even sometimes those of skunks. In winter they seek underground holes where they can retreat for safety. They perch on top, or nearby, to sight their food which consists of insects and small mammals. When cornered or desperate this owl emits a powerful deterrent, a spray similar to that employed by skunks or horned toads.
As soon as possible after receiving Abney's message, I started out to see the owl. On my way down Ocean Drive I saw my friend Lidia Suris in front of her house with her four dogs on leashes. Would she like to go with me? She would, as soon as she could convince the disappointed dogs of her changed intentions.
Looking for an owl in the plowed fields beyond Portland is a genuine needle in a haystack situation. With the directions I had we were soon in the vicinity of the little critter. Fortunately, beside a dusty road in the distance, I spotted a car and a tall figure stooped over a spotting scope with a much smaller figure eagerly waiting for a look. The figures were those of birders Willard and Carlene Johnson. They were already focused on the owl and graciously shared.
Having fled its culvert, the owlet was hunkered down between two dry clods of Texas cotton field. It looked its big yellow eyes pleadingly at us as if to say, "Can't you guys just go away and leave a bird in peace?" Soon we did.
I had already planned this column on burrowing owls when I learned of a meeting on the status of the bird being held in the offices of the U.S. Geological Survey at Texas A&M University. It was conducted by Geoffrey Holroyd, research scientist with the Canadian Wildlife Service, and Mary Kay Skoruppa, U.S. Geological Survey biologist. Participating was graduate student, Jerry Batey, who plans to complete a research paper on the owls by late April. I learned that 19 individuals have been located in Nueces County this winter. Of these 11 remain, 2 are known to have died, and the rest are now unaccounted for. Unfortunately, these birds had not been fitted with transmitters.
Holroyd said that the birds are easy to work with, comply willingly with situations such as having to be moved as a family from unsafe habitat. The burrowing owl species is believed to decline about 16% each year, he explained, and though it is not severely endangered as is the whooping crane, it is hoped that by helping the birds now such a state may be avoided.
Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi
resident, has studied birds of Texas since 1960.
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