CONCLUSION

Although six routes is a small sample for comparison of habitats with increasing and decreasing owl trends, preliminary results suggest decreasing trends are associated with urban and agriculture land use and vegetation types, and with higher temperatures and lower precipitation. Additional analysis is needed to include all routes with reported trends in order to detect stronger differences between routes with increasing or decreasing owl numbers.

Long-term studies are necessary to document species status and trends, yet they are rare across the Burrowing Owl’s range. In New Mexico, there is very little information about the status of this species. Because BBS data are used by wildlife managers to establish species status and trends, Burrowing Owls in NM may be falsely deemed secure if the increasing trend is inaccurate or the drivers have negative implications. Owls are frequently associated with agriculture and urban areas, and reported BBS increases in New Mexico may be due to their use of these habitats. However, these areas are also related to increased risk, such as chemical exposure, vehicle collisions, increased predation, and burrow disturbance (Haug et al. 1993, Gervais et al. 2000, Rosenberg and Haley 2004, Catlin and Rosenberg 2006). In addition, climate change projections of warming temperatures and decreased precipitation may negatively affect Burrowing Owls in New Mexico and contribute to their decline.