The Burrowing Owl

By Arilyn Maier

May 5, 2009

Appearance

• Color: male- white eyebrows with a light brown main feather color.

female- white eyebrows with a dark brown feather color.

Both burrowing owl seem to have speckled bodies and they have very long legs.

• Height: 10 inches

• Weight: 6 ounces

• Wingspan: 21 inches

Food

• Foods: large insects\ small rodents\ frogs\ other owls\ the delicate vesper mouse\ tropical house

gecko\ katydids\ crickets\ true crickets\ scarab beetles\ fruits\ seeds

• Strategy: The burrowing owl waits on a perch to ` spot some prey then it swoops down for

the ground animal or flies in the air to catch a hovering insect. Sometimes the owl will

start in a part-time chase across the ground.

Sounds

• chucks\ chattering\ screams: accompanied by a bobbing of the head

• alarmed: hiss like a rattlesnake

Predators

• coyotes, raccoons, opossums, snakes, and other birds of prey.

Habitat

• Dry open areas\ savannas\ prairies\ grasslands\ deserts\ farmlands\other urban areas

• Lives in southern Canada, western USA, Florida, central America, most of south America, and even in the Amazon Basin.

Cited Sources• ”The Burrowing Owl." Http://www.defenders.org/wildlife_and_habitat/wildlife/burrowing_owl.php.

Defenders Of Wildlife. 4 May 2009.• Giannetta, J. "BURROWING OWL." Http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/animals/burowl1.html.

Oct. 2001. 4 May 2009.• "Burrowing Owl." Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrowing_owl. 2 May 2009. Wikimedia Foundation, • “"Burrowing Owl." Http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Burrowing_Owl/id. 09 May 2009• "Burrowing Owl." Http://www.delta.dfg.ca.gov/gallery/burowl.asp. California Department of Fish

and Game "Species of Special Concern" 10 May 2009.• "Owls: The burrowing owlcam story." Http://wdfw.wa.gov/wildwatch/owlcam/b_owl.html. Jan.

2009. 10 May 2009.• Lewis, Deane P. "Burrowing Owl - Athene cunicularia." Http://www.owlpages.com/owls.php?

genus=Athene&species=cunicularia. 24 Apr. 2005. The Florida Burrowing Owl Project. 10 May • Malone, Miranda. "Florida Burrowing Owls."

Http://www.ecofloridamag.com/archived/burrowing_owls.htm. Eco Florida. 10 May 2009. • Bruun, B., C. S. Robbins, and H. S. Zim. "Burrowing owl Athene cunicularia." Http://www.mbr-

pwrc.usgs.gov/infocenter/i3780id.html. Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. 10 May 2009.

• "The Burrowing Owl." Http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110864/. 10 May 2009.