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Burrowing Owls

Photo by Stan Tekiela

by Stan Tekiela
© NatureSmart

May 23, 2016

I love the rule breakers in nature. People tend to pigeon-hole (sorry for the pun) birds and animals into categories not based on facts but on how we perceive them to be. We think that if they are one kind of critter they will act a specific way. Owls are a good example of this stereo type thinking.

I have written many times in the past about the Red-headed Woodpecker which is a species of woodpecker that doesn't really act like all other woodpeckers. They are a good example of a rule breaker. The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is also another great example of a species of owl that doesn't act like all other owls.

I recently was photographing some Burrowing Owls and was thinking about how much I enjoyed that these owls are not like all the other owls. First of all, they are tiny birds. Not the large hulking predators that we often think of when imagining an owl. In fact they are so small, less than 10 inches tall, that they hunt mostly insects like grasshoppers and katydids. Not a very fierce predator unless you are a bug.

 Half of the mystery of owls are their nocturnal behavior. Being active at night means it's often difficult to see owls. Not the Burrowing Owl. They are active during the day time along with the night making them very easy to see and more importantly observer their natural behaviors. Many of the larger insects such as grasshoppers are most active during the day so the Burrowing Owl takes advantage of this and hunts during the day. They will also catch small lizards and snakes which are also active during the day. Seems this owl is perfectly adapted for the food they hunt.

There are a number of owl species such as the Barred Owl that nest inside tree cavities. However the Burrowing Owl is the only one that nests in underground burrows, hence their common name. Sometimes the Burrowing Owl will take over an old prairie dog or ground squirrel burrow and widen or lengthen the burrow. Other times the Burrowing Owl will simply dig out their own nesting burrow.

Using their tiny feet they kick loose dirt backwards to excavate their burrow. It can take a fairly long time to dig out their burrow, up to 2 weeks, but they use the burrow for many years in a row making all the effort worth it. Many burrows are upwards of 6 feet long with a small chamber at the end. They will have extra chambers where they store food.

At nesting time the adults bring in chunks of animal dung usually cow manure to decorate the entrance to the burrow. Presumably this smelly poop will attract beetles and other ground dwelling insects that the owls then catch and eat. But they also collect other objects such as bottle caps that you can find at the burrow entrance.

Interestingly the Burrowing Owls take well to man-made nesting burrows constructed of PVC pipe or sections of 4 inch drain-tile with a small wooden box at the end. The entire apparatus is burred about 2 to 3 feet deep. The owls seem to like these dwellings and use them often.

Burrowing owls also have very long naked legs. Much longer than most other owls. They also lack the feathers found on their legs and feet of other owls. This is because they live in warm climates where having feathers on your legs for warmth is not necessary.

All of these things make the Burrowing Owl so much different from all others owls. This makes them a classic rule breaker. One thing for sure in nature, there are never any absolutes and there is always an exception to every rule. I love the rule breakers. Until next time...

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist who travels the US to study and photograph wildlife. He can be followed on facebook.com and twitter.com. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com

  

The nationally syndicated NatureSmart Column appears in over 25 cities spanning 7 states: Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. It is a bi-weekly column circulated to over 750,000 readers.

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