In the Tri-Cities area (the cities of Kennewick, Pasco and Richland), located in southeastern Washington about 350–400 km from Seattle, a camera has been installed to livestream the nesting of rare burrowing owls. The climate in this part of the state is drastically different from rainy Seattle: because of the Cascade Range, which creates a rain shadow, this area receives only about 200 mm of precipitation per year versus 1,000 mm in the west, and the semi-arid landscape with hot summers and cold winters is ideal for these birds.
The project, launched by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation — which includes the Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes, who have inhabited the Columbia River Plateau for centuries — together with the Owl Research Institute and Explore.org, allows people to see the lives of these birds, including hunting and raising chicks. Thanks to infrared lighting, the livestream is also available at night. For the Umatilla people these owls carry deep cultural significance — they are featured in traditional songs and stories.
Burrowing owls, easily recognizable by their long legs and lack of ear tufts, nest in underground burrows, often abandoning them after prairie dogs. However, their numbers have plummeted due to urbanization and agricultural conversion of prairie lands. In Washington these birds have become rare outside a few counties, including Benton and Franklin, where the Tri-Cities are located.
The project's success is striking: whereas in 2008 there were only four pairs of owls on the site of a former U.S. Army chemical storage facility that is part of the Hanford nuclear complex, today there are more than a hundred. Paradoxically, the military legacy played a positive role — decades of minimal human disturbance due to the area's isolation created pristine prairie patches that became a refuge for the owls. Now part of the area (the Hanford Reach National Monument) is being used for joint U.S. Department of Energy and Umatilla Tribe projects to protect the owls and restore the ecosystem.
The installation of 100 artificial underground burrows has helped not only their survival but also reproduction — just last year about 400 chicks hatched here. The camera is focused on one of those burrows, which owls use for years. The owls can be watched in real time — the camera runs on solar power. "People care about what they know," says biologist Lindsay Chiono, who participated in the project. "That kind of observation helps reveal bird behaviors that are usually hidden from view: from courtship to food caching."
The Umatilla Tribe, whose treaty-recognized fishing, hunting and plant-gathering rights are acknowledged by the United States, actively participates in conservation projects: restoring salmon populations, controlling invasive species and managing lands within the former Hanford complex. It is planned that most of the former military site will be transferred to the tribe and given a new name in the Umatilla language — "home of the burrowing owls." Thus, the project not only saves a rare species but also restores people’s connection to nature.
The burrowing owl population remains vulnerable. In Washington they are listed as a species of priority conservation concern, and in Oregon they are included on lists of species needing protection. The main threats are habitat loss and declines in rodent populations, whose burrows the owls use as homes.
Based on: Groups start livestream of rare burrowing owl near Tri-Cities