A Western Burrowing Owl is shown near the Mob Museum in Downtown Las Vegas, February 10. Unlike most owls, Western Burrowing Owls are not exclusively nocturnal and are often active during the day.
From Las Vegas Sun
Walk among the dirt lots around Las Vegas and you might miss the tiny brownish-red birds with white spots peering out from small burrows in the ground.
The western burrowing owl can be found throughout states like Nevada and California, but habitat loss and other threats have driven significant population declines across the region, the National Audubon Society says.
The Clark County Commission voted unanimously last week to maintain protections for the owl under its Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan. Under the protocols, developers must conduct preconstruction surveys and use passive relocation techniques, such as one-way doors, to move the owls away from project sites.
“(Burrowing owls are) relatively common, that’s the reason for the concern having been brought up,” said Kimberley Goodwin, principal environmental specialist for the Clark County Desert Conservation Program. “Every other group that was represented either expressed strong support to fairly neutral support for inclusion; nobody expressed desire to see the burrowing owl removed … as a proposed covered species from our application package.”
Western burrowing owls are small, active-by-day birds with a rounded head and bright yellow eyes that find homes in abandoned burrows previously dug by ground squirrels, badgers, skunks, tortoises and marmots, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Audubon Society notes that while various types of burrowing owls span from Florida to California and south into Mexico, their numbers have declined significantly, with recent global estimates placing the population at roughly 2 million to 3.5 million adult birds.
They typically live six to eight years, reaching less than 1 pound and feeding mainly on insects, spiders and sometimes small mammals, snakes, lizards, bats and earthworms.
Western burrowing owls are listed as a priority species by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and were identified as a Species of Great Conservation Need as a result of population declines.
Habitat loss from agricultural and land development along with reductions of burrowing mammal populations have resulted in a 30% to 50% population decrease of western burrowing owls across the region, the National Audubon Society said.
The burrowing owl isn’t listed as a protected species under the federal Endangered Species Act — the landmark 1973 law that shields threatened and endangered fish, wildlife and plants — but it does fall under the protections of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
That distinction matters. Goodwin explained that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act has changed quite a bit over the past decade, especially when it comes to how “incidental take” is handled. Unlike the Endangered Species Act, which lets builders get permits for accidental harm to wildlife, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act doesn’t offer any kind of permitting option.
Last year, county commissioners formed a work group to review proposed avoidance and minimization measures for the plan. Approved in 2000, the conservation plan outlines ways to protect local species amid continued development.
The group met with local officials, utility companies and leaders from the homebuilding and commercial development industries. According to Goodwin, the group identified several measures that required clearer instructions, such as specific design guidelines or best management practices.
A representative of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, suggested that the burrowing owls be removed because their prevalence in the plan area could raise project costs by potentially causing delays. Some developers listed the uncertainty around future federal protections as another reason to remove them from the protected status, Goodwin said.
Most other members wanted to keep the western burrowing owl in the plan, arguing that doing so avoids the cost and delay of readding the species if its federal protection status changes.
If the federal government bans the accidental killing of the owls under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, developers would face the full cost of compliance, including project delays and potential fines.
Goodwin noted the western burrowing owl could eventually be listed under the Endangered Species Act due to population declines.
Without coverage under the county’s conservation plan, a federal listing would halt development until the plan is amended or developers obtain individual federal permits. Goodwin warned that amending the plan midstream could also expose the county to lawsuits.
Because the owls are common in the Las Vegas Valley, project delays and rising costs could squeeze developers whose land contains active nests. However, the work group found that keeping the protections offers more stability. The required surveys are considered modest compared with the risk of “listing disruptions” or legal uncertainty.
In most instances, owl surveys will be conducted alongside existing surveys for the threatened desert tortoise, Goodwin said. The county also believes being proactive will show the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that local conservation is working, potentially reducing the need for a formal federal listing.
Under the new protocols, a lead biologist will perform clearance surveys before construction begins. If birds are found and are not breeding, they will be relocated. If a nest is active, a 330-foot buffer will be established until the chicks have moved on from the nest. For nests within 165 feet of a site, the county will recommend visual screens to limit disturbances.
“It was a learning curve when the desert tortoise protections became a real important piece of the approvals ... and site exploration and preparation. We figured it out, and I think we’ll figure this out too,” Clark County Commissioner Jim Gibson said. “In reality, it isn’t worth having an unknown risk out there for anyone who is in business but in particular as we have a housing shortage and we have an affordability issue that we face right now, we don’t need to expose people to something that is really undefinable.”
Photo by Kawin Towe