“Interstate 11 would decimate habitat for cactus ferruginous pygmy owls, who play a vital role in maintaining the health of the Sonoran Desert,” Russ McSpadden, a Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press statement. “These small but fierce birds nest and raise their young in saguaro cacti and other desert trees that would be bulldozed for the highway’s construction. We’re fully committed to protecting these rare owls and their habitat from destruction.”
The Audubon Society describes cactus ferruginous pygmy owls as hardy animals, hunting in near dawn and dusk on lizards, rodents, insects and small birds. That last choice of prey can get the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl into trouble; when other bird species recognize its distinctive whistled call, they sometimes mob to harass it. But humans are the biggest hazard to these owls. As a result, it was listed as "threatened" earlier this year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act.
