Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl: Small ground-dwelling owl, mostly brown with numerous white spots and no ear tufts. Eyes are yellow. White chin and throat. Tail is short, and legs are long. Bouyant, erratic flight with slow, silent wingbeats. May hover briefly above prey. The scientific name means "little digger."
● Song:
"coo-coo-roo or co-hoo", "who-who"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Burrowing Owl: Eats mostly large arthropods, but also feeds on mice, small rabbits, rats, gophers, ground squirrels, bats, reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Often watches from perch and then glides silently toward target; most active at dusk and dawn, but will hunt anytime throughout a 24-hour period.
● Breeding & nesting:
Burrowing Owl: Lays seven to ten white, nest stained eggs in nest lined with excrement, pellets, grass, feathers, and other debris, built in a burrow, pipe, culvert, or nest box; burrows are either dug by the owls or have been abandoned by ground squirrels, prairie dogs, badgers, or other small mammals. Female incubates for 21 to 30 days.
● Similar species:
Burrowing Owl: Short-eared owl is larger, has black bill, and moth-like flight.