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Burrowing owls are some of the smallest owls in the world. They stand 8 to 11 inches tall and have a wingspan of about 20-24 inches. They weigh just 6 to 7.5 ounces – less than a can of soda.

Their burrows have a saucer-sized entrance and a tunnel leading to a nesting cavity as deep as 8 feet underground. For obvious reasons, they prefer land that drains well.

The owls often take over holes abandoned by squirrels and other small animals. Sometimes, they  set themselves up in man-made pipes and plastic tubing in the ground.

Florida burrowing owls can be found throughout the state, but they’re more concentrated in Cape Coral than anywhere else in Florida. It’s  one of the largest populations of burrowing owls in the world.

(Source: https:floridanewspress.com)

"Several species of shorebirds and seabirds nest along the beaches of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of Florida. Habitat loss and degradation associated with coastal development has largely restricted many of these species to stretches of beach within parks and preserves. This group of birds is particularly sensitive to human disturbance since environmental conditions on beaches are already harsh and unpredictable. For example, one dog passing near a colony of nesting seabirds can cause all the birds to panic and subsequently leave their nests dangerously exposed to the hot boiling sun."

• Never enter areas posted with shorebird/seabird signs.
• Keep dogs on a leash and away from areas where birds may be nesting.
• Do not fly kites near areas where birds may be nesting.

Please visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission website for more information on how you can help and  on their new guidelines, currently being drafted, to help protect threatened, nesting shorebirds like the Black Skimmer, Least Tern, and Snowy Plover.

This short video highlights the threats Sanibel shorebirds face everyday on the beach and showcases simple ways beachgoers can be good neighbors to shorebirds and other coastal wildlife. This video was created by the City of Sanibel in partnership with the Sanibel-Captiva Audubon Society, SCCF, and the "Ding" Darling Wildlife Society.

San Cap Audubon is proud to have helped support the Avian Research and Conservation Institute's effort to deploy GPS-equipped cell-phone transmitters on two breeding adult Swallow-tailed Kites on Sanibel. The 2021 Sanibel GPS-tracked Kites are called “Bailey’s Homestead” and “Sanibel Botanical”. 

Read the whole story here.