No bird watcher has ever reported seeing burrowing owls fly past and keep going. The tracking of owls on migration is fraught with technical difficulties. However, using radio telemetry, Kort Clayton and Josef Schmutz of the University of Saskatchewan are attempting to open this black box. Near Hanna, Alberta, they attached small transmitters to the owls and followed their movements in late summer and fall. Their data indicate that the owls begin migration in early October.
Owls depart at night and fly enormous distances on the first night.
In contrast, before they migrate, these owls stay close to their burrows. During the rearing of their young they tend to burrow in heavily grazed pastures, preferred for their visibility while nesting. Later in the season, they may move to areas with more grass cover that may have greater prey diversity. To ensure that management initiatives are as effective as possible in Canada, we must learn more about the migration route and wintering grounds of the owls. The future of the radio telemetry project includes following the owls further along migration routes using aerial satellite tracking.