Knowledge is Knowing What to Say…
...Wisdom is Knowing When to Say It
It was a delight watching this fledgling Burrowing Owl as he climbed out of the underground burrow and investigated the surrounding area.
The Burrowing Owl is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America.
Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs.
They are small, sandy colored owls with bright-yellow eyes. They live underground in burrows they’ve dug themselves or taken over from a prairie dog, ground squirrel, or tortoise.
They live in grasslands, deserts, and other open habitats, where they hunt mainly insects and rodents.
Before laying eggs, Burrowing Owls carpet the entrances to their homes with animal dung, which attracts dung beetles and other insects that the owls then catch and eat. They may also collect bottle caps, metal foil, cigarette butts, paper scraps, and other bits of trash at the entrance, possibly signifying that the burrow is occupied.
Burrowing Owls have a higher tolerance for carbon dioxide than other birds—an adaptation found in other burrowing animals, which spend long periods underground, where the gas can accumulate to higher levels than found above ground.
Unlike most owls in which the female is larger than the male, the sexes of the Burrowing Owl are the same size.
Burrowing Owls often stow extra food to ensure an adequate supply during incubation and brooding. When food is plentiful, the birds' underground larders can reach prodigious sizes.
The oldest known Burrowing Owl was at least 9 years, 11 months old when it was sighted in California in 2014.
Knowledge is Knowing What to Say…
...Wisdom is Knowing When to Say It
It was a delight watching this fledgling Burrowing Owl as he climbed out of the underground burrow and investigated the surrounding area.
The Burrowing Owl is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America.
Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs.
They are small, sandy colored owls with bright-yellow eyes. They live underground in burrows they’ve dug themselves or taken over from a prairie dog, ground squirrel, or tortoise.
They live in grasslands, deserts, and other open habitats, where they hunt mainly insects and rodents.
Before laying eggs, Burrowing Owls carpet the entrances to their homes with animal dung, which attracts dung beetles and other insects that the owls then catch and eat. They may also collect bottle caps, metal foil, cigarette butts, paper scraps, and other bits of trash at the entrance, possibly signifying that the burrow is occupied.
Burrowing Owls have a higher tolerance for carbon dioxide than other birds—an adaptation found in other burrowing animals, which spend long periods underground, where the gas can accumulate to higher levels than found above ground.
Unlike most owls in which the female is larger than the male, the sexes of the Burrowing Owl are the same size.
Burrowing Owls often stow extra food to ensure an adequate supply during incubation and brooding. When food is plentiful, the birds' underground larders can reach prodigious sizes.
The oldest known Burrowing Owl was at least 9 years, 11 months old when it was sighted in California in 2014.