#burrowing owl

[herpsandbirds]

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), family Strigidae, order Strigiformes, Southern CA, USA

photo by Birds of Rey Wildlife Photography

[yoritsukikawa]

ATHENE

(Athene noctua, Athene brama, Athene cuniclaria)

[spinus-pinus]

Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia

12/21/2025 Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, California

[mrpupperoni]

Owl studies from a while ago

(top row: great horned owl, barn owl, burrowing owl)

(bottom row: short-eared owl, long-eared owl, great grey owl)

[pacogabby]

Burrowing owl at Antelope Island State Park.

[bethanythebogwitch]

I heard it's Superb Owl Sunday so I have prepared some superb owls for you.

The barn owl is the most widespread species of owl, living on every continent except Antarctica. Their faces are shaped like a disk to help their hearing, giving them some of the best hearing of any owl. They mostly hunt by sound.

Snowy owls are the largest arctic predatory birds, They are born with black feathers and get whiter as they age. Females usually have more dark feathers than males.

Eastern screech owls have a few feather variants that make them look like completely different species.

The southern white-faced owl can increase its metabolic rate during winter to compensate for the cold and lack of food. They lay their eggs in nests built and abandoned by other birds.

The great grey owl is the largest owl by length, but a lot of that is feathers and they're actually very light for their size. Their hearing is good enough to hear rodents burrowing through snow and they can break through hard-packed snow to catch prey.

Blakiston's fish owl is the largest owl by mass and eats mostly fish. Despite the name, they may be more closely related to eagle owls than fish owls.

The elf owl is the smallest owl species, barely larger than a sparrow. They hunt bugs and play dead when caught. They like to live in holes in saguaro cacti.

Burrowing owls live in underground burrows. While they can dig, they mostly take over burrows from other animals. Farmers killing prairie dogs has severely reduced burrowing owl populations. They decorate their burrows with feces to attract bugs to eat.

The barking owl is called that because

Its nice to have a day to appreciate superb owls. Feel free to spread the love by reblogging with some more owl facts.

[todaysbird]

Encounter

this looks like a painting, wow!

[vintagewildlife]

Prairie dog arguing with two burrowing owls By: Unknown photographer From: Walt Disney's Vanishing Prairie 1955