Burrowing Owl juvenile

Burrowing Owl Images, Facts and Information:

Athene cunicularia

  • Burrowing Owls are small (robin sized), terrestrial owls that have long legs, short tails, will hunt day and night and nest in burrows in the ground.
  • Nicknames for Burrowing Owls include desert owl, prairie dog owl, gopher owl, ground owl, howdy owl and I like to call them desert clowns because they can be so funny.
  • Preferred habitats for Burrowing Owls include prairie dog towns, dry, open areas, deserts pastures, areas with short grass including golf courses, yards, vacant lots and airports.
  • Western Burrowing Owls have seen significant declines in their populations, this might be caused by habitat destruction, fragmentation of habitat by urban development, pesticides, rodenticides, predation by nonnative species and destruction of burrows.
  • Burrowing Owls are listed in Utah as a Wildlife Species of Concern. In some areas they are listed as threatened or endangered.
  • Burrowing Owls prey on small mammals, insects including moths and beetles and they will also eat fruits and seeds.
  • They lay 2 to 12 eggs which take 21 to 30 days to hatch, the female owl incubates.
  • Most Western Burrowing Owls are migratory, Florida Burrowing Owls are nonmigratory.
  • Burrowing Owls can live up to 9 years.

I hope you enjoy viewing my Burrowing Owl photos.

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