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D & D Wildlife Photography
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The Burrowing Owl ia a small ground-dwelling owl with a round head and no ear tufts, white eyebrows, yellow eyes, and long legs. The owl is sandy colored on the head, back, and upper parts of the wings and white-to-cream with barring on the breast and belly and a prominent white chin stripe, a rounded head, and yellow eyes. The young are brown on the head, back, and wings with a white belly and chest. They molt into an adult-like plumage during their first summer. Burrowing Owls are comparatively easy to see because they are often active in daylight, and are surprisingly bold and approachable. The females are usually darker than the males.They eat insects, scorpions, crayfish, mice, ground squirrels, young prairie dogs, rabbits, amphibians, snakes, but rarely other birds. Nests are usually in deserted mammal burrows, hence the name. They lay six to eleven white eggs.
Length: 9 inches
Habitat: Open plains, grasslands, desert scrub.
Voice: A "coo coo" given by male during courtship; a long chattering given during alarm.
Other Behavior: These endearing owls are often seen on the raised mound at the entrance to their burrow, in habitats such as airport fields, highway shoulders, golf courses, and vacant lots. They prefer uncultivated areas such as BLM land. They do not share burrows with other animals but inhabit deserted burrows. Rattlesnakes may live nearby and prey on the owls, but the Burrowing Owl can imitate the rattling sound as a defense against its would-be predator.
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