Burrowing Owl

Burrowing owls are a group of small owls that live in grasslands, deserts, and other open landscapes. They live in burrows in the ground made by other creatures and forage for food on the ground, such as insects and small animals. These amazing little animals often bring animal dung back to their burrows to attract beetles when they are sitting on nests. A lot of time burrowing owls mate for life and sometimes form colonies of nesting pairs. Burrowing owls are small, and sometimes are liable to be crushed if their nests happen to be on a construction site. Their owlets’ cry sounds like a rattlesnake, which scares off predators. These owls have a brown back with white spots to blend in with their environment, which is one reason why they are able to flatten themselves to the ground when hiding, instead of flying off.

Burrowing owls are mainly endangered because of a lack of habitat. Much of burrowing owls’ former habitat is being used to build things such as business and farms. Without their habitat, these owls are unable to raise their chicks safely. They are also endangered because of a decline in the number of ground squirrels, and because some people poison and trap ground animals. Burrowing owls rely on ground squirrels for burrows and for food. These resourceful little owls have made their homes in all sorts of things as the number of livable habitat declines. They even use PVC pipes, tubing, buckets, and other burrow-y materials.