# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdhSTgZG5mF
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70597264-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ce2b6ba155.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-20T19:00:07.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

An Arizona solar farm outside Phoenix has become an unexpected home for dozens of burrowing owls after a relocation experiment worked far better than expected.

In March 2025, 19 adult owls were moved roughly 50 miles after their underground colony was set to be wiped out by a housing development. Crews built 40 artificial burrows across about 250 acres between sections of the Sun Streams solar complex west of Phoenix.

The owls were given extra food while they adjusted, lights were used to attract insects, and cameras monitored the new colony. Within just one month, every female had laid eggs. By late June, 36 baby owls had hatched, and 29 later grew strong enough to leave the nest.

Burrowing owls have been disappearing around the Phoenix Valley as development wipes out more of the open land and underground burrows they rely on. This solar-farm experiment is now being looked at as one possible way to create new space for displaced owls in Arizona.

Would you want to see more Arizona solar farms make room for wildlife like this? 🦉☀️

#Arizona #Phoenix #BurrowingOwls #ArizonaNews #Wildlife

## Stats

- **Views:** 0
- **Likes:** 3,435
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 54

## Tags

wildlife, arizonanews, arizona, burrowingowls, phoenix

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