CAPE CORAL, Fla. — The Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife (CCFW) held the 7th Annual Ground Owl Day on Sunday, celebrating the city’s official bird, the burrowing owl.
WATCH AS FOX 4'S ANVAR RUZIEV COVERS THE GROUND-OWL EVENT:
The event took place at the Pelican Baseball Complex, where people gathered to see if Athene, the burrowing owl mascot, would see her shadow.
Athene’s prediction? Spring is coming.
“So that’s Cape Coral’s spin on Groundhog Day,” said Janet Windisch of CCFW. “Athene, our mascot, the burrowing owl mascot, told us today that it was cloudy, so she did not see her shadow. So that means that spring is coming.”
Burrowing owls are considered a threatened species in Florida. CCFW hopes events like Ground Owl Day will raise awareness about their conservation and encourage the community to protect local wildlife.
“So today we’re celebrating the city’s official bird, the burrowing owl. So this is a species that is considered threatened in the state of Florida,” Windisch said. “So Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife really wants to raise the awareness of the beauty of this bird, um, and hopefully get some of the community to be interested in conserving this species and other wildlife.”
Cape Coral’s rapid development has made it more important than ever to protect the owls' habitats. The birds make their homes in burrows dug into the ground, often in open spaces.
“There’s a lot of development going on in Cape Coral, and we need to be mindful that the wildlife needs support,” Windisch said.
To protect the burrows, CCFW marks a 10-foot protection zone around them with PVC pipes. Windisch explained why it’s important for people to respect these areas.
“So that means that people shouldn’t walk within that 10 feet protection zone, shouldn’t put your trash cans there, you shouldn’t drive your cars there,” she said.
For those with burrows in their yards, she also shared best practices for maintenance.
“We recommend that people use a weed whacker or a string trimmer to keep down the vegetation because the burrows, the burrowing owls, like a wide open space so they can see their predators,” Windisch said. “But we ask you not to put a riding mower or a push mower in there.”
For Windisch, protecting burrowing owls is a personal passion that started with birdwatching.
“I started out as a birder because I love birdwatching,” she said. “And then I became interested in the burrowing owls, and then I realized, not only watching for my own enjoyment, but that there’s things that we can do to help them.”
She encourages others to get involved by joining CCFW or volunteering.
“We hope that other people, like, you know, who love the wildlife, join Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, or possibly just volunteer for one of our activities,” she said.
One big upcoming event is the Burrowing Owl Festival, happening on February 22.
“It’s coming up in three weeks,” Windisch said. “So we need people to help out from everything from parking to set up for that.”
Throughout the year, volunteers help maintain burrows and support conservation efforts.
“We have volunteers throughout the year that go around the city and they, um, clear the vegetation around the burrows. That’s called our maintenance team,” Windisch explained. “We have a purple martin colony in Serena Vista Park. And so once a week, volunteers go and count the purple martin nests and clean them out.”
Windisch said the organization welcomes volunteers of all ages.
