2010 Report Prairie Oak Burns

Mason McKinley
South Puget Sound Prairie/Oak Program Manager
(360) 584-2538 (Phone)
(360) 965-9445 (Fax)


2010 Report on Prairie Oak Burns

• RENEWAL Thurston County

What is the Cascadia Prairie-Oak Partnership?

CPOP is a nascent umbrella group, which would provide a formalized framework for what is now a loose association of working groups (Oregon Oak Communities, South Sound Prairies (WA), North South Prairies (WA), Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team (GOERT, Canada). The focus of these groups is to work together to share expertise, develop resources, coordinate planning, and implement effective conservation actions. All groups are interested in seeing CPOP provide initial coordination and information-sharing services at the ecoregional scale (e.g. listserv, website, conferences, workshops). Combining these groups while also maintaining the local focus of subgroups, allows us to improve efficiency (e.g., conservation planning and research) and coordinate prairie-oak conservation at larger landscape scale.

Hannah Anderson
Cooperative Conservation

Program Manager

handerson@tnc.org
360-701-8803 (phone)

360-956-9445 (fax)

Western Screech Owl

Flying from Yelm Creek deciduous treed area in Yelm over the roadway NW what I thought to be a Western Screech Owl.

BirdWeb

Nesting

Monogamous pairs form long-term bonds. Western Screech-Owls are secondary cavity nesters, making use of natural cavities, old Pileated Woodpecker or Northern Flicker holes, and nest boxes. They nest at heights from 5 to 30 feet from the ground. They do not add material to the nest. Pairs typically hatch one brood per year. The female incubates 3-5 eggs for 33-34 days while the male brings her food. Once the young hatch, the female broods for about three weeks while the male brings food to her and the owlets. The young leave the cavity and venture onto nearby branches 7-10 days later. They stay close to the nest for a few nights while they develop their ability to fly, and they continue to remain near the adults for about five weeks after their first flights.

Migration Status

Western Screech-Owls do not migrate, and pairs are resident on their territories year round.