The 24-acre Burrowing Owl Preserve in Chino was established about 10 years ago to mitigate for the loss of owl habitat due to development. Owls nested in artificial burrows initially but eventually the burrows fell into disrepair and were no longer used. PVAS has established a collaborative relationship with the homeowners’ association that is responsible for the preserve.

The restoration plan included the installation of eight new artificial burrows, weeding to remove invasive weeds, and the sowing of California native wildflower seeds. The work started in the fall of 2019 when high school students built the wooden burrow boxes in their shop class using the San Diego Zoo Research Institute plans for an improved burrow. PVAS members, along with college and high school students, got together for several weeding parties at the preserve to remove extensive stands of tumbleweed and other weeds. Replacing invasive weeds with native plants should attract more insects and lizards, thereby improving forage for the owls.

Over 55 volunteers attended the two burrow installation days in late January. Some volunteers completed the burrows, securing buckets to the lids so the burrows could be accessed for cleaning or banding, and adding hardware cloth, legs, and tubing. Others worked on weeding or removing brush.

A fully assembled box has two entrances and 19 feet of tubing. The first 3 feet of tubing at the entrance is larger in diameter to create an “anti-predator patio”. This allows one or more owls to quickly run into the burrow if a predator appears. The narrower tubing closer to the box should stop predators from continuing down the tube and into the nest.

Southern California Edison volunteers brought and operated a mini-excavator to dig most of the trenches. The excavator crew finished their work by early afternoon and teams of volunteers began covering the box and tubing with poultry netting and hand filling the trenches.

The mini-excavator could not handle the very steep slope at the last installation site, so a crew of 10 volunteers hand dug those trenches in hard, compacted soil. After a day and half of hard work with shovels and pickaxes, the hand-dug trenches were finished, and the burrows and tubing were installed.

When all the burrows were installed, all that showed above ground were the burrow entrances, two for each burrow.

In February, we waited anxiously for rain so the native plant seeds could be sowed. Finally, in early March, when some substantial rain was forecast, the seeds were spread and lightly worked into the ground.

The future holds more weeding and seeding, the installation of low perches for the owls, and, we hope, Burrowing Owls moving into their new digs