A solar farm in western Arizona has become an unlikely success story for burrowing owls, a species that has struggled as development eats away at desert habitat. In March 2025, the nonprofit Wild at Heart partnered with Longroad Energy to relocate nine owl pairs and one single male that were displaced from a housing development about 50 miles away to the Sun Streams facility near Tonopah. The owls now live in 30 artificial burrows monitored by motion-activated cameras, and biologists are tracking nesting success and survival as part of an ongoing study into how the birds adapt alongside large-scale renewable energy infrastructure.
The open space beneath and around the solar panels seems to work in the owls' favor. It lets them spot predators from a distance, and the panels may even draw in insects that make up a key part of their diet. Greg Clark, Wild at Heart's habitat coordinator, has worked on burrowing owl conservation for nearly three decades. He says the site now supports about 40 owls and includes habitat enhancements like drip-irrigated native plants meant to attract moths, butterflies, and grasshoppers. The project is being watched as a model for how development and wildlife conservation can coexist when habitat planning is part of the design from the start.
