Congratulations, Arizona! Pygmy Owls Born In Captivity

Arizona started an experimental project in an attempt to add to the wild population of pygmy owls, but with no previous success.  However, some changes had been made to the nesting box along with better abservation seems to have made all the difference. Four pygmy owl chics have been born to two pairs of parents. They are the first pygmy owls to have ever been born in captivity.  Both sets of parents and all four chics are healthy and doing good.

http://www.owlpages.com/news.php?article=707

Enviros Petition to Re-List Pygmy Owl as Endangered

The pygmy owl was first listed as endangered in 1997. 

In 2006, The Fish and Wildlife Services Agency removed them from the list not because there were no longer edangered (they still are) but rather because a federal court asked them to better explain the reason that they were listed as distinct. 

There are now less than 30 pygmy owls in the whole state of Arizona.  A group of consevationists are petitioning to have the pygmy owls relisted as endangerd, saying that they should never have been removed to begin with and are greatly in need of the protection of the Endangered Species Act (1973) in order to survive.

http://www.owlpages.com/news.php?article=539

Pygmy Owl Facts

Cactus ferruginous pygmy owls are incredably small owls found in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. They only grow to be about 6-7 inches tall and weight 2-3 ounces. The pygmy owl will eat many small critters such as lizards, frogs, earthworms, small birds, small mammals and insects. They are partially nacturnal and partialy diurnal.

Surveyors in southern Arizona recorded only 28 owls in 2006. In Mexico there has also been a decrease in owl population by 26% since 2000 at a rate of 4.4% per year. http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/cactus_ferruginous_pygmy_owl.php