Burrowing owls, which call the southeast home, are one species that people should keep an eye out for here in the southeast.
The population has been seeing a steady decline in Saskatchewan since the mid-80s, with estimates extending to the hundreds in Saskatchewan.
Grace Pibdorchynski, a habitat stewardship coordinator for Nature Saskatchewan, talks about the driver behind that decrease.
"One of the major reasons behind their decline could be attributed to changes in the prairie landscape. So a lot of native prairie or native grassland in the province or across all the prairies has been heavily cultivated and a lot of our wetlands have been lost."
"This means that the grassland is fragmented and with the habitat fragmentation for the burrowing owls especially, it makes it easier for predators to find them in their nests, so this increased the risk of predation for the net as well as their young, and the fragmentation also limits movement of owls between sites such as their burrows, where their nests are found, so this affects their pairing like in the success of breeding and coming up with a successful brood and just dispersal overall."
To help keep the species safe Pibdorchynski says people should learn what they can about the burrowing owl.
"This applies to any species at risk as well is just be informed and learn more about nature and wildlife by joining any kind of naturalist organization such as Nature Saskatchewan or any of the local societies, there's a lot throughout the province. If you just do a search online I'm sure there'll be one nearby."
Pibdorchynski asks that motorists keep an eye out for young burrowing owls that are learning to fly and hunt near roads and ditches. Motorists can help reduce the risk of owl-vehicle collisions by slowing down near known or potential nest sites and being on the lookout for low-flying birds.
Landowners can help out as well by checking their fields for burrowing owls to help out conservation efforts.
"If you have land that has nesting, burrowing apples, or even prairie habitat, they like pasture with gray grass, they prefer different lengths of grass. They can join Operation Burrowing Owl, which is a program I coordinate here at Nature Saskatchewan. We just ask that they monitor for burrowing owls. Keep an eye on them and conserve their habitat. We say to these people that if they have species at risk on their land, they're doing something right with their land management.
That program helps to recognize the contributions that many landowners already make to the burrowing owl species.
"We don't tell people how to manage their farms or pastures. It's a lot of the landholders and managers who are eyes and ears out there, which we really appreciate."
If you manage to spot a burrowing owl, Pibdorchynski asks you to call into their "hoot" line at 1-800-667-4668 to help monitor the species.