The world-renowned particle accelerator at Fermilab is surrounded by more than 1,000 acres of restored prairie, making the lab’s grounds an ideal place to reintroduce the state-endangered barn owl.

Ecologists from Fermilab and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County are teaming to release the birds into the wild and track their progress using satellite transmitters. The district’s Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to approve the partnership.

Ecologist Dan Thompson has been leading the barn-owl-reintroduction program for the district since 2004. He said the Batavia research facility’s restored prairie, which is among the largest in the state, will provide the endangered birds with a perfect home.

“They like to hunt and forage in open areas and grasslands,” Thompson said. “Fermilab has that in abundance.”

Barn owls are endangered because of loss of their grassland habitat and changes in agricultural practices, Thompson said. Modern farms lack the wooded areas and easily accessible barns that made older farms good homes for the species, he said.

Fermilab ecologist Rod Walton said the federal research facility has a long-standing history of land management and is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Environmental Research Parks.

“It’s largely an opportunity for researchers to come use this site for environmental and ecological research, and that’s where the barn owl project fits in,” Walton said.

The pair of owls that will be released late this summer were born to a breeding pair at the district’s Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn. Once they are moved to Fermilab, the birds will be housed in a wooden enclosure inside a barn.

For about a week, they will be able to fly freely around the barn to adjust to their new surroundings. Fermilab staff will look after the birds during this time and feed them by releasing mice.

The project is a little different than Fermilab’s usual environmental undertakings, Walton said, because staff will take an active role in handling the birds.

“Being able to take part in something like this ... we’re really looking forward to it,” he said.

After the adjustment period, the barn will be opened, and the owls will be able to leave. Forest Preserve District staff will then begin tracking the birds using satellite transmitters.

Thompson said this technology is much less time intensive than traditional tracking methods. Ecologists will be able to follow the owls from computers on their desks.

The plan is to release one or two new birds each year.