Burrowing owl
The burrowing owl is a unique species known for its distinctive behavior of nesting in abandoned burrows created by other animals, such as prairie dogs and tortoises. This small owl measures between 7.5 to 10 inches in length, with a wingspan of 20 to 24 inches, featuring brown and white spotted plumage along its back and soft white feathers on its face and underparts. Found primarily in open landscapes and prairies across North and South America, burrowing owls are opportunistic feeders, primarily consuming small mammals and insects, but they also eat a variety of other prey like frogs and reptiles.
Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are diurnal during their breeding season, being active during daylight hours to hunt. They typically breed from February to August, with pairs forming lifelong bonds. Female owls lay between 2 to 12 eggs, which take about 28 to 30 days to incubate. As the young owlets develop, parental care involves bringing regurgitated food to the burrow. These owls face various threats from predators, responding to danger with unique behaviors like bobbing and vocalizations. In the wild, burrowing owls have an average lifespan of 6 to 8 years.
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Burrowing owl
The burrowing owl gets its name from its habit of living in abandoned burrows of ground animals like prairie dogs and tortoises. If no suitable burrow is available, the owl digs and expands an existing or new burrow. The burrowing owl has brown and white spotted plumage, or feathering, along its back and soft, white feathers along its face, belly, and legs.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Genus: Athene
Species: Cunicularia
The burrowing owl measures 7 1/2 to 10 inches (19 to 25 centimeters) long with an average wingspan of 20 to 24 inches (51 to 61 centimeters). The plumage, or feathering, of the burrowing owl is mostly brown with white spots along its back. Its underparts are covered with soft, white feathers, as are its face and legs. The burrowing owl has large, round, yellow eyes and a small, sharp beak.
The burrowing owl lives in the open country and prairies of North and South America, including on golf courses, roadside embankments, and airfields. It makes its home in the abandoned burrows of other animals, especially prairie dogs. Burrowing owls living north of Oregon and Kansas generally migrate south during the colder months.
Burrowing owls prefer to eat small mammals or insects, but they are opportunistic predators and eat what is available. As a carnivore, or meat-eating creature, the burrowing owl feeds on insects, small mammals, frogs, snakes, lizards, scorpions, and centipedes. Unlike most owls, it is diurnal during breeding season, which means it is active during the day. It may hunt for its prey along the ground or from a roosting, or resting, position on top of a lookout mound left behind by prairie dogs. When not breeding, burrowing owls are more nocturnal.
The breeding season for the burrowing owl depends on the region in which they live but generally takes place between February and August. Male and female burrowing owls pair for life. During the breeding season, male burrowing owls may fly in circles or dive from great heights, bow, coo, scratch, or display white feathers to impress the female. After mating, each female lays 2 to 12 round, white eggs. These eggs have an incubation period, or growth period, of 28 to 30 days. After the owlets, or young owls, hatch, the mother stays with them for one week before she resumes hunting. When they are very young, their parents bring regurgitated, or previously chewed and spat-up, food to them inside the burrows. As the owlets grow, they begin to wait for their parents at the entrance to the burrow. After two weeks, the owlets begin to walk and go beyond the edge of the burrow to investigate their surroundings. At the first sign of danger, the owlets return to the burrow, where they live for about six weeks.
Skunks, opossums, and rattlesnakes may threaten the burrowing owl. When away from its burrow and threatened by a predator, the burrowing owl responds by bobbing up and down in place, bending its long legs, and may make a "cack, cack" sound. Rather than flying away, the Burrowing owl may lay flat or run away from predators.
The average life span of the burrowing owl in the wild is 6 to 8 years.
Bibliography
"Burrowing Owl." All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Burrowing‗Owl/overview. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.
"Burrowing Owl." Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute, nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/burrowing-owl. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.
"Burrowing Owl." U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, www.fws.gov/species/burrowing-owl-athene-cunicularia. Accessed 25 Mar. 2024.