A Burrowing Owl, eyes squeezed shut, yawns as its more alert partner looks on, both peaking out from a grassy burrow.
A Burrowing Owl, eyes squeezed shut, yawns as its more alert partner looks on, both peaking out from a grassy burrow.

Burrowing Owl Photo: Heidi Piccerelli/Audubon Photography Awards
Burrowing Owl Photo: Heidi Piccerelli/Audubon Photography Awards

News

Yawn! When are we getting back to work?

2021 Conservation Workday update

News Flash - Cosnervation Workdays have been scheduled! Check out the schedule and sign up to volunteer here.

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Greetings, owl fans! We’ve heard from many of you and share your anxiousness to get back to our regular Conservation Workdays.

If you are new to the scene, Audubon hosts monthly events that take place on the 3rd Saturday of each month and are open to the general public, including supervised kids 8+. Folks spend a morning completing meaningful conservation projects including tree-planting, trail clean-up, and yes, Burrowing Owl release projects. The projects run from 8am to noon, no experience necessary, and all tools are provided.

Spoiler alert: Burrowing Owl work will be taking center stage this fall because with CV-19 in the rear-view, construction projects are now going full bore. Small, ground-dwelling Burrowing Owls are often displaced by development and our partner organization Wild at Heart is working as hard as the construction crews to remove the owls before the heavy equipment rolls. These homeless owls rely on people like YOU to build them new abodes in safe areas. Learn more about the Downtown Owl Project here.

Because most of the owl work is in the Phoenix valley, we anticipate offering our first public workdays in September, and we are still sorting out dates and locations. Some things to expect this year:

  • Increased travel time to burrow sites: as Phoenix grows, we need to go further away to develop safe areas for the owls
  • Habitat enrichment activities at both existing and new sites: we will be establishing plantings and in some cases running irrigation to new plants in order to build a better prey base. Burrowing Owls eat a fair amount of insects and we plan to experiment with ways to improve food availability
  • Non-weekend work days! In addition to the established Saturday offering, we need corporate groups, clubs, school groups, etc. that are available to work during the week. Need a team-building activity to bring your co-workers back together? Consider an owl workday!


Sign-up here to be kept abreast of the schedule as it firms up. You will soon receive an announcement including dates and locations. Thank you for your continued support of this project and we look forward to seeing you in the field soon!     

How you can help, right now