 Breeding evidence |
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Click on plot to view table of mean abundance
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Number of squares
Long-term BBS trends
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-4.78 (-7.45 - -2.02)|
Mean abundance (number of birds detected per 5 min. point count) and percentage of squares occupied by region Bird Conservation Regions [abund. plot]
[%squares plot]
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Atlas Results
Burrowing Owls were observed in 85 squares largely in the southern portions of the Mixed and Moist-Mixed Grassland ecoregions. Landowners in Nature Saskatchewan's Operation Burrowing Owl program contributed a remarkable 80% of the squares with sightings. Sightings were made as far north as Delisle and Hanley near Saskatoon, and as far east as Carnduff. Breeding was confirmed in 29 squares, with another 28 squares reporting probable breeding largely from observing paired birds. Burrowing Owls were observed in native and tame grassland, as well as on the edges of agricultural fields.
Excerpts Adapted from the Birds of Saskatchewan:
Burrowing Owls nest in underground burrows-a unique attribute among North American birds of prey. Perhaps to ward off potential predators, the young can produce a defensive hiss that sounds like that of a rattlesnake. Once fairly common on the southern Saskatchewan grasslands, Burrowing Owls are moving toward extirpation. In Saskatchewan, few bird species have been studied more extensively. Breeds on the grasslands and arid regions of western North America, Florida and the Carribean. Winters in southern US and Mexico (Poulin et al 2011).
In Saskatchewan, Burrowing Owls nest in the abandoned burrows of mammals such as ground squirrels, badgers, and prairie dogs. Burrowing Owls generally nest in well-grazed native or tame grassland. They also frequent black-tailed prairie dog colonies in the Frenchman River valley. They may also nest along roadsides and in crop fields, cemeteries, and golf courses: until 2005, several pairs nested on the Lynbrook Golf Course in Moose Jaw.
Through the mid-20th century until the 1970s, there were likely several thousand pairs in the province. By 2004 the owl's range was reduced to only a third of its former extent in Canada (Poulin et al. 2011, EC 2012). Severe declines throughout western Canada led to official designation of the Burrowing Owl as Threatened in 1979 (Wedgwood 1979) and Endangered in 1995 (Wellicome and Haug 1995), the latter reaffirmed in the last assessment in 2006 (COSEWIC 2006b).
Original text by Ray Poulin and L. Danielle Todd. Text adapted by Daniel J. Sawatzky
Read more about the Burrowing Owl in the Birds of Saskatchewan here.
Recommended citation: Latremouille, L. M. 2025. Burrowing Owl in Latremouille, L. M., S. L. Van Wilgenburg, C. B. Jardine, D. Lepage, A. R. Couturier, D. Evans, D. Iles, and K. L. Drake (eds.). 2025. The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Saskatchewan, 2017-2021. Birds Canada. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan https://sk.birdatlas.ca/accounts/speciesaccount.jsp?sp=BUOW&lang=en [09 Nov 2025]
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