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BURROWING OWL
(Athene Cunicularia)

The Burrowing Owl is a small ground-dwelling Owl with a round head and no ear tufts.
They have white eyebrows, yellow eyes, and long legs.
The Owl is sandy coloured on the head, back, and upperparts of the wings and white-to-cream with barring on the breast and belly and a prominent white chin stripe.

These Owls are quite versatile in the ways they capture prey.
They chase grasshoppers and beetles on the ground, or hover in mid-air before swooping down on their unsuspecting prey.
They also watch from perches, then glide silently toward their target.

Burrowing Owls are primarily active at dusk and dawn, but will hunt throughout a 24-hour period, especially when they have young to feed. Unlike other Owls, they also eat fruits and seeds, especially the fruit of Tesajilla and prickly pear cactus.

Burrowing Owls are present in North America, and breed across the grassland regions of southern Alberta.
They can also be found west of the Mississippi Valley, and breed south through the western and mid-western States.
A separate subspecies is found in Florida and the Carribean Islands.

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