What is a Burrowing Owl

Three Burrowing Owlettes peeking out of their desert home.

Below is a transcription of the above sign found at the Valley of Fire Visitor Center.

Burrowing Owl – Athene cunicularia

HABITAT

Open country, such as prairies, sagebrush flats, pinyon-juniper slopes.

SIZE/DESCRIPTION

9 to 11 inches (23 to 28 cm) long, a small owl with very long legs, no ear tufts.

Color: light brown

FOOD

Rodents and insects

RANGE

Throughout Western North America and Florida, and in dryer parts of South and Central America.

ADAPTATION FOR SURVIVAL

Digs own burrow or uses one dug by animal and lines it with feathers and grasses.

At night, hunts insects on the wing.

COMMENTS

Many burrowing owls are killed along roads because they swoop low over the highway during their nightly hunts.

Drivers do not see them in time to avoid colliding with this dark-colored bird.

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