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Galápagos Short-eared Owls Shared Volcanic Dust Baths on Floreana

Galápagos Short-eared Owl on Santa Cruz Island
Research · Behaviour

A 2026 field report documented repeated and communal dust bathing by Galápagos short-eared owls (Asio flammeus galapagoensis) on Floreana Island. Camera traps and direct observations showed several owls repeatedly using sites with very fine volcanic soil, including occasions when two birds dust-bathed simultaneously.

A camera placed at a frequently used dust bath in the island cemetery recorded dust bathing on 11 of 14 monitored nights, with activity concentrated mainly between 18:45 and 22:00. Field observers saw as many as four owls present at the same time. Fine reddish dust penetrated deeply into the plumage and accumulated around the facial disc and in body openings.

The same dust-bathing locations were also used by mixed flocks of Darwin’s finches and by feral cats. During a later expedition, one of 20 owls examined carried seven blood-feeding louse flies (Hippoboscidae) in an ear opening. The authors treat this as an anecdotal observation rather than direct evidence that dust bathing reduces parasites.

The researchers suggest that the repeated use of the same fine-soil sites may serve plumage maintenance and could also have a social component. They note that synchronized dust bathing is unusual in a raptor that is generally described as loosely territorial or only facultatively social, depending on how resources are distributed.

Sources and image credit

  1. Sumasgutner, P., Ploderer, J. W., Arteaga-Torres, J. D., Kleindorfer, S., & Sumasgutner, S. C. (2026). Communal use of dust-bathing sites by Galápagos Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus galapagoensis) in fine volcanic soils. Journal of Raptor Research, 60(4), jrr26015. https://doi.org/10.3356/jrr26015Primary peer-reviewed field report. University of Vienna publication records list publication on 9 July 2026. Trail cameras and direct observations on Floreana documented repeated dust bathing at fine volcanic-soil sites, including two owls bathing simultaneously and up to four birds observed together. Plumage-maintenance and possible social functions are proposed; parasite-removal effects were not demonstrated.

Image: Caryn / Wikimedia Commons — wild Galápagos Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus galapagoensis) on Santa Cruz Island, Ecuador, photographed 17 July 2009; representative image of the same subspecies, not an owl from the Floreana dust-bathing observations · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source

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