Have you seen a Burrowing Owl?

More scientifically

• The Western Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugea) is a small ground dwelling owl with long legs.
• They have a round head, no ear tufts, white eyebrows and bright yellow eyes.
• They have a prominent white chin stripe.
• They are sandy coloured on the head, back and upper parts of the wings, with a brown and white mottling on the breast and belly.
• There is little colour difference (or sexual dimorphism) between males and females.
• Unlike most birds of prey, the females tend to be slightly smaller. In breeding season, the females are also darker, possibly due to extended nesting periods in the burrow .
• Juveniles are brown on the head, back and wings, with cream white belly and chest. They moult into their adult plumage during their first summer.

Vital Statistics

Length: 21 - 28 cm (8.5 - 11 inches)

Wingspan: 51 - 61 cm (20 - 24 inches)

Weight: 160 - 240 g (0.429 - 0.643 lb)

Vocalizations

Burrowing Owls make a wide range of calls. The main call is a soft “who who” sound usually given at the burrow entrance. Males use this main call for attracting females to the burrow. The sound is also associated with breeding and identifying the territory of a pair.

Over 17 calls have been identified, including “rasp,” “chuck,” and “chatter.” They also have unique alarm calls. Adults will emit a piercing scream but juveniles give a rattlesnake like “buzz” when threatened in the burrow.

Breeding

The female will lay a day a part six to twelve (average nine) ping pong ball-sized white eggs. The eggs are incubated by the female for 21 - 30 days.

Newly hatched chicks are totally dependent on their parents for warmth and food for a couple of weeks after hatching, the care of the young while still in the nest performed by the male. At two weeks, the young may be seen roosting at the entrance to the burrow, waiting for the adults to return with food. At three weeks, the young birds begin to emerge from the burrow and explore.

At four or five weeks of age, some of the brood may even move to a neighboring burrow. The young birds begin to fly about a month after hatching and are independent from their parents by the time the birds begin to migrate south in mid-September. They leave the nest at about 44 days and begin chasing live insects when 49-56 days old.

Hunting

These owls are quite versatile in the ways they capture prey. They chase down grasshoppers and beetles on the ground, use their talons to catch large insects in the air, or hover in mid-air before swooping down on unsuspecting prey.

They also watch from perches, and then glide silently toward their target. Burrowing owls are primarily active at dusk and dawn, but will hunt throughout a 24-hour period, especially when they have young to feed.

Burrowing owls feed on a wide variety of prey, changing food habits as location and time of year determine availability.

Large arthropods, mainly beetles and grasshoppers, comprise a large portion of their diet. Small mammals, especially mice, rats, gophers, and ground squirrels, are also important food items. Other prey animals include reptiles and amphibians, scorpions, young cottontail rabbits, bats, and birds, such as sparrows and horned larks.