Habitat
Burrowing Owl
Athene cunicularia
By: Blanca
Piñon-Lozano
Burrowing owls are monogamous for the most part, though some male owls will have two
mates. The male owl coos and does aeronautical stunts in a bid to get the females
attention. Once she does, the courtship moves quickly. Sometimes the couple may build
their own burrow that extends 4-8 feet underground, but most often they take up residence
in the discarded burrow of a rodent or reptile. They’ll fix up the burrow with grass clippings
and manure from other animals. The manure is used to conceal the odor of their presence
in the burrow, but also to attract insects which serve as a meal for the mother incubating her
eggs. The baby owls will hatch about 30 days after their mother lays her eggs. The clutch
size averages about seven eggs, though it can be as large as 12. Burrowing owls sexually
mature at 1 year of age.
Phylogeny: Burrowing
owls are deutorostomes,
from the phylum chordata
which are characterized
by a notochord, hallow
nerve cord, pharyngeal gill
slits and a post anal tail.
They originated in Quercy,
France and spread
throughout North America,
Mexico, Brazil, and the
Galapagos Islands.
The burrowing owl is a small ground dwelling owl with long
legs. This little owl has sandy brown feathers mixed with
white. They have a round head, no ear tufts, white eyebrows
and bright yellow eyes. They have a prominent white chin
stripe. There is little color difference between males and
females, except during breeding season, the females are
darker, possibly due to extended nesting periods in the burrow.
References
"All About Birds." Burrowing Owl, Life History,. The Cornell Lab of
Ornithology, n.d. Web. 28 July 2013.
Coulter, C., Coulter, C., Coulter, J., Coulter, V. 2004. Wing It: A
Beginner’s Guide to Birds of the Southwest. Albuquerque: University of
New Mexico Press.
Length: 21-28 cm (8.511 in)
Wingspan: 51-61 cm (20-24
in)
Weight: 160-240 g (0.4290.643 lb.)
Grzimek’s Animal Life Encyclopedia, 2nd edition. Volumes 8-11, Birds IIV, edited by Hutchins, M., Jackson, J.A., Bock, W.J., and Olendorf, D.
Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.
Lockwood, M. W. and B. Freeman. 2004. The TOS handbook of Texas
birds. Texas A&M University Press, College Station.
Feeding Habits
Burrowing Owls primarily
feed on insects and
small mammals, but they
will also eat reptiles and
amphibians. These owls
are quite versatile in the
ways they capture prey;
They chase grasshoppers and beetles on the ground, use
their talon to catch large insects in the air, they hover in mid
air before swooping down on unsuspecting prey. They are
primarily active at dusk and dawn, but will hunt all day if it
has
Taxonomy
Interesting fact:
The Burrowing owl
breaks its prey’s neck
with sharp blows from
its large hooked beak.
When alarmed, young
birds will make a
hissing call that
sounds like a
rattlesnake.
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: strigiformes
Family: Strigidae
Subfamily: Surniinae
Genus: Athene
Specie : Cunicularia
Reproduction
Burrowing owls are monogamous for the most part. The male owl
coos and does aeronautical stunts in a bid to get the females
attention. Sometimes the couple may build their own burrow that
extends 4-8 feet underground, but most often they take up
residence in the discarded burrow of a rodent or reptile. They’ll fix
up the burrow with grass clippings and manure from other animals.
The manure is used to conceal the odor of their presence in the
burrow, but also to attract insects which serve as a meal for the
mother incubating her eggs. The eggs hatch about 30 days later.
The clutch size averages about 7-12 eggs. Burrowing owls sexually
mature at 1 year of age. They can live 9-12 years.