| The western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea, BUOW), a California Species of Special Concern, is at risk of local extinction in San Diego County. Successful management of BUOW and their grassland habitat depends on a thorough understanding of their population dynamics and resource use. Since 2011, we have been conducting research focused on several aspects of BUOW breeding season ecology at both natural and artificial burrows. As part of this larger project, we deployed GPS dataloggers in 2014 and 2015 to record foraging locations of provisioning males during the nestling period. Over these two breeding seasons, we gathered data from 8 individuals, with one tracked in both years, and found that the average maximum distance traveled was under 1 km with 90% of the locations within 660 m of each respective breeding burrow. Our results illustrate the importance of the habitat immediately surrounding the breeding burrow both in terms of its foraging quality and potential hazards to the birds. Consequently, the siting of artificial burrows, habitat restoration, and other management activities should take into account the habitat, food availability, and risks of disturbance or other negative impacts to BUOW within this small spatial scale. |