In this region it's primarily badgers that do the digging, and the owls are few and far (like many miles) between. In some rare instances they're said to be colonial. At Cookie's recent setup there were 3 families within about 80 yds and they've held constant for the last three years that we've been aware of the location. We're aware of a 4th pair about 5 miles to the west. Must be reasonably tough little birds having to deal with all the predators (badgers, weasels, snakes, rats, etc capable of accessing the nests.
Several years ago we rounded a bend on an extremely remote desert road and saw about 30 birds atop scattered sagebrush covering about 2 acres. Last year we saw nothing in that same patch. I don't know if they have any free water demands, but there were no surface sources within 5 miles of that area for the last 2 years.
Have a good one,
