wls are a favourite bird for many people, and in recent years their popularity has even made them trendy in the retail industry. Owls can be seen everywhere from fashion and home decor to collectibles. To birdwatchers in Manitoba, owls are sought-after birds with different species to see throughout the year. The most commonly seen owl is the fierce great- horned owl but there is also the provincial bird, the great grey owl, and in winter the beautiful snowy owl. In summer, one very special owl is closely monitored due to its highly endangered status: the whimsical bur- rowing owl.


Sherrie Versluis Feathered Friends


The small but long- legged burrowing owl is found throughout North and South America. Un- like most owl species which spend their lives in well-treed areas, bur-


rowing owls prefer the openness of grasslands and agricultural areas, and any open dry space with low growing vegetation. They get their name from their behaviour of nesting and roosting in burrows that have been previously excavated by prairie dogs. They are the only owl species in North America that nests in the ground.


Burrowing owls have brown and white spot- ted plumage and bright yellow eyes with promi- nent white eyebrows. They stand about 11 inches in height with a large wingspan of 24 inches. They weigh only 8.5 ounces and in size are just a little big- ger than an American robin. Their most notable trait is those long legs, which allow them to run when hunting prey. Males and females are very similar in appearance but the adult males have lighter coloured feathers due to the extended time they spend outside the burrow. They hunt and keep guard over the bur- row as the sun bleaches their feathers to a lighter hue. The diet of a burrowing owl is a mix of rodents and insects, but they will also eat frogs and small birds. They are a true natural insect controller, as one owl will eat 7,000 insects per summer and nearly 2,000 rodents! The male waits on a chosen perch until he spots his prey and will swoop down to catch it. He will even jump up to catch insects in flight and sprint after rodents.


Nesting season begins in April after the burrow-


ing owls return from their wintering grounds in the Gulf of Mexico. Males display themselves to females


Burrowing owls O


These endearing creatures are the only owls to nest in the earth. Today in Manitoba they face extinction. Thanks to man, their habitat here is vanishing.


It is thought there are only 10 pairs of burrowing owls left.


by circling overhead, hovering, then rapidly descend- ing. Both sexes vocalize to each other, rub beaks and preen to show their affection. The male will offer va- rieties of food to the female to show off his hunting skills.


Once they have paired up, the nest building begins in the burrow, where the female will lay one egg ev- ery one or two days until up to 12 eggs are produced. Incubation time is three to four weeks, and both par- ents participate in feeding the young once they’ve hatched. At four weeks, the young birds will begin leaving the burrow, making short flights to perfect their flying skills. The parents feed the chicks for up to three months. Even though the female can lay up to 12 eggs, only four or five chicks actually survive to leave the nest.


Burrowing owls were once a very common sight on the Canadian prairies. Studies show that since 1997, their population has declined by more than 96 per cent, and they are now an endangered species in Man- itoba. It is estimated that there are currently only 500 to 800 pairs to be found throughout all of Canada.


In Manitoba, the numbers are grim. There were ap- proximately 100 pairs in the early 1980s but in 2012 there were fewer than 10. This sharp decline is attrib- uted mostly to habitat loss and the ever-changing prai- rie landscape. Over 75 per cent of our native grasslands and 40 per cent of our wetlands have been lost. The remaining areas of suitable grasslands in Manitoba are heavily fragmented, which has greatly reduced suitable nesting spaces. Pesticides, vehicle collisions and many man-made hazards have also contributed to the decline. Under the Manitoba burrowing owl recovery pro- gram, a great effort is being made to save this special bird from extinction in our province. Dedicated volun- teers and researchers spend their summers working on this project. If you would like to learn more or would consider supporting this very important program go to www.mborp.ca or call 1-204-807-4668 to speak to program manager Alexandra Froese. Please give a hoot about burrowing owls in Mani-


toba!


Sherrie Versluis owns The Preferred Perch on St. Mary’s Road in St. Vital. Phone:204-257-3724.


Winnipeg’s Charlie Gardiner wrongly absent from the


NHL 2017 list of 100 top lifetime players Gardiner outplayed the 15 goalies on NHL’s list, with one regular season shutout every 7.5 games (easily under- cutting Ken Dryden’s record). He missed only 41 minutes of play in the last 6 1/12 years of his seven-year career. He played the games that launched the Maple Leaf Gardens and Chicago Stadium, and made Cup winners out of lowest-ranking NHL teams. Fred Morris


I


t is unbelievable that Winnipeg na- tive Charlie Gardiner was not in- cluded on the top 100 players list


announced at the 2017 All Star Game in Los Angeles.


Gardiner's accomplishments are supe- rior to those of the 15 goalies on the top 100 list. Goalies rarely play every game. Since Eddie Johnston played all 70 games for the 1963-64 Boston Bruins, it has not been done. Gardiner missed only 41 minutes in the last 6 ½ years of his career. This durability has only been ex- ceeded by Glen Hall and George Vezina. Gardiner recorded a regular season shutout once every 7.5 games. This ra- tio is better than any of the 15 goalies on the top 100 list. The ratio for the 15 goalies range from 8.6 for Ken Dryden to 34.7 for Grant Fuhr. Also, Gardiner's regular season GAA of 202 is better than any of the 15 top 100 goalies. The GAA


March 2017


scoring teams to the Stanley Cup. Due to his untimely death at age 29, his career was limited to seven seasons. His short career should not exclude him from the top 100. Bill Durnan made the top 100 with a seven-season career.


for the 15 goalies in the top 100 range from 2.20 for Dominik Hassek to 3.38 for Grant Fuhr. He won the first games in the Chicago Stadium and Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens. In the Maple Leaf Gardens game, he stopped 50 out of 51 shots in a 2 to 1 Chicago victory. Gardiner and Mike Karakas of the


1938 Chicago Black Hawks are the only NHL goalies to lead the NHL 's lowest


Terry Sawchuk, also from Winnipeg, is often regarded as the NHL's best-ev- er goalie. Both Gardiner and Sawchuk rightfully belong in the NHL and Mani- toba hockey halls of fame. Who was bet- ter? Both played when the Vezina was awarded to the goalie on the team with the lowest GAA. ‘ Sawchuk had five great years. Between 1950-51 and 1954-55, he played 97 per cent of his team’s games and recorded a GAA of 1.94. During these five years, he won three Vezinas and missed the other two by one goal. He was playing behind Detroit's offensive powerhouse led by Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay. They scored over three goals a game. Gardiner had six great years between 1928-29 and 1933-34. He played with


a team that scored less than two goals a game. His GAA for these years was 1.93. He won two Vezinas and was run- ner-up twice.


At the peak of their careers, Gardiner was a little better.. We can only specu- late on how Gardiner's career might have ended. After his glory years, Saw- chuk became an ordinary, often-injured goalie. In his last 15 years, he had a 2.84 GAA. He made only two all-star teams in his last 15 seasons. He shared one Vezina with Johnny Bower in 1964-65. In eight of those years, he was not even the number one goalie on his team. W. A. Hewitt, in his 1958 book written shortly after the end of Sawchuk's glory years, rated Gardiner ahead of Sawchuk. In 2017, I agree with Mr. Hewitt. Winnipeg has named a street and an


arena after Sawchuk. The time has come to recognize Charlie Gardiner. Fred Morris describes himself as a com- munity activist. He has run for political of- fice.


www.lifestyles55.net 9


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