‘Flying potato’ owls find a home at Arizona solar complex

Rescued owls live in artificial burrows at the solar farms.

by YCC Team

April 20, 2026

Transcript:

A large complex of solar farms near Phoenix, Arizona, is now home to a quirky, eight-inch bird called the burrowing owl.

Clark: “If you saw one flying by, it’d be like a flying potato.”

Greg Clark of the nonprofit Wild at Heart says most burrowing owls in his region live in holes dug by prairie dogs.

But over time, much of the birds’ habitat has been lost to development, and people have killed off many prairie dogs.

Clark: “We’ve eliminated the mammals that dig their holes.”

So Clark’s group rescues the owls from areas about to be developed and relocates them to safer sites – into artificial burrows made of plastic drums and tubes.

Years ago, before the Sun Streams solar complex was built, his group removed some burrowing owls from the site.

But now they’re bringing owls back. In partnership with Longroad Energy, they’re installing artificial burrows on land between two of the solar farms in the complex.

Last year, Clark’s group moved 19 owls that they rescued from elsewhere to the site. They made sure the owls had enough food. And soon, the birds laid eggs.

As of early this year, many of the owls and their young were still there.

Clark: “The site is spectacularly successful.”

Reporting credit: Ethan Freedman / ChavoBart Digital Media