A small, sandy-coloured burrowing owl peeks from its prairie burrow, one of 70 fledglings hatched this year thanks to the Wilder Institute’s head-starting program, which helps ensure endangered owlets survive their first winter and return to breed.This year, 26 adult owls released through last year’s program paired up on the prairie to produce 70 fledglings across 13 nests. Normally, only three to five of the youngest hatchlings survive to fledge, but the head-starting program gives them a chance to mature in human care before returning to the wild, said Graham Dixon-MacCallum, Conservation Research Population Ecologist at the Wilder Institute.Burrowing owls, once common across Western Canada, have seen populations decline by 90% since 1990 and are listed as Endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. The fledging of 70 young owls this season marks a significant success for prairie conservation..Since 2016, the Wilder Institute has partnered with Alberta Environment and Protected Areas and the Canadian Wildlife Service, releasing 171 head-started owls onto the Canadian prairies. The program tracks returning adults and their offspring, with nine owls from past years — including one from 2022 making its third return — returning to breed this season.“Seeing the owls pair up, nest, and fledge young, and then return from migration to breed again, shows this approach works for burrowing owl conservation in Alberta,” said Dixon-MacCallum.The 2025/2026 cohort has already begun its journey, with young owlets like the one peeking from the burrow transported to the Archibald Biodiversity Centre for winter care before being released back to the prairie next spring. Each returning owl signals that conservation efforts are successfully rebuilding Alberta’s endangered burrowing owl population.
