A Burrowing Owl keeps lookout for predators!
Being blessed enough to live in such a beautiful
state has been a great reward for us.
Mostly due to the fact that Karen and I both love the outdoors and all
that lives there,
We’re extremely fortunate to have a family of
burrowing owls living less than 100 yards from us where the babies have just
left the nest to find a home of their own.
There is also another nest a few blocks away that has four small babies
that are just turning color. At first
they were little white fluffy balls of fur, but now the spotted brown color
prevails.
Since we are more into nature, finding a new kind of
animal is of great interest to us, so we’re always on the lookout for those
creatures that cross our path. We even
buy books on the species we like including any type shells. We even carry plastic cards in our cars to
identify anything we can’t.
One such animal is the Florida Burrowing Owl. I just can’t help myself when I see them
because they are such gorgeous creatures, especially when they are babies. Even when they are full-grown, they only
reach 9” and are considered the smallest species of owls.
These beautiful birds actually live underground and
they dig their own homes instead of using an abandoned hole in the ground. They literally make the dirt fly when they
are busy digging in. But it’s not
uncommon for them to live in an abandoned gopher or squirrel hole when they get
the opportunity.
Unlike many other nocturnal owls that like the cover
of night, Burrowing Owls are diurnal.
In other words, they like the daylight!
I guess they just like sleeping in until the sun comes up before looking
for breakfast!
Burrowing owls eat anything from bugs to lizards and
rodents, and they even like small frogs when they can get them. They can eat up to one half their body
weight daily.
The Burrowing Owl can easily be found in the fields
of Central and South Florida, but it also can be found in South America and
even as far North as Canada. Today this
cute little creature is considered on the endangered species list. They were here long before the housing boom
started and fortunately they are totally protected so you can’t even move their
nest if you want to build that dream home you’ve always wanted.
One really cool thing about these little beauties is that
they can actually rotate their head around 180 degrees. Can you imagine if you could rotate your
head like that? The real beauty about
this is they can see anything that is trying to sneak up on them from behind.
Their breeding time is in early spring when the female will
lay several eggs, which take about a month to hatch. Normally the chicks will leave the nest around 42-45 days to go
live on their own and start their own families. Ironically this is the same time they learn to fly. Unfortunately
burrowing owls only live about 9 years in the wild.
When an adult male is at its burrow and wants to attract a
female owl, it will make a loud sound that sounds like “who-who.” Then when the female arrives, they make a
totally different sound to each other.
I wonder how you say I love you in owl sounds?
There is something that threatens the burrowing owls
existence and that is the agricultural use of a pesticide called carbofuran,
which has already been banned in Canada.
Another threat is the plowing of fields where they live. Developers don’t exactly build around a nest
when there’s so much money at stake in making homes for us humans.
So, if you’re near a burrowing owl’s nest, please take as
many photos as you like, but whatever you do, don’t harass them or upset their
daily life cycle. After all, they were here
way before we were so they have a right to the land and would speak up if they
could. Please give them the space they deserve.
I suggest you get this book called: Buffy The Burrowing Owl
as it will give you a much better
understanding of these beautiful creatures.
Being blessed enough to live in such a beautiful
state has been a great reward for us.
Mostly due to the fact that Karen and I both love the outdoors and all
that lives there,
including alligators, as well as the many other
varieties of birds, mammals & fish.
We’re extremely fortunate to have a family of
burrowing owls living less than 100 yards from us where the babies have just
left the nest to find a home of their own.
There is also another nest a few blocks away that has four small babies
that are just turning color. At first
they were little white fluffy balls of fur, but now the spotted brown color
prevails.
Since we are more into nature, finding a new kind of
animal is of great interest to us, so we’re always on the lookout for those
creatures that cross our path. We even
buy books on the species we like including any type shells. We even carry plastic cards in our cars to
identify anything we can’t.
One such animal is the Florida Burrowing Owl. I just can’t help myself when I see them
because they are such gorgeous creatures, especially when they are babies. Even when they are full-grown, they only
reach 9” and are considered the smallest species of owls.
With most owl species the female is larger, but in
this owl’s world the female is smaller.
These beautiful birds actually live underground and
they dig their own homes instead of using an abandoned hole in the ground. They literally make the dirt fly when they
are busy digging in. But it’s not
uncommon for them to live in an abandoned gopher or squirrel hole when they get
the opportunity.
Unlike many other nocturnal owls that like the cover
of night, Burrowing Owls are diurnal.
In other words, they like the daylight!
I guess they just like sleeping in until the sun comes up before looking
for breakfast!
Burrowing owls eat anything from bugs to lizards and
rodents, and they even like small frogs when they can get them. They can eat up to one half their body
weight daily.
The Burrowing Owl can easily be found in the fields
of Central and South Florida, but it also can be found in South America and
even as far North as Canada. Today this
cute little creature is considered on the endangered species list. They were here long before the housing boom
started and fortunately they are totally protected so you can’t even move their
nest if you want to build that dream home you’ve always wanted.
One really cool thing about these little beauties is that
they can actually rotate their head around 180 degrees. Can you imagine if you could rotate your
head like that? The real beauty about
this is they can see anything that is trying to sneak up on them from behind.
Their breeding time is in early spring when the female will
lay several eggs, which take about a month to hatch. Normally the chicks will leave the nest around 42-45 days to go
live on their own and start their own families. Ironically this is the same time they learn to fly. Unfortunately
burrowing owls only live about 9 years in the wild.
When an adult male is at its burrow and wants to attract a
female owl, it will make a loud sound that sounds like “who-who.” Then when the female arrives, they make a
totally different sound to each other.
I wonder how you say I love you in owl sounds?
There is something that threatens the burrowing owls
existence and that is the agricultural use of a pesticide called carbofuran,
which has already been banned in Canada.
Another threat is the plowing of fields where they live. Developers don’t exactly build around a nest
when there’s so much money at stake in making homes for us humans.
So, if you’re near a burrowing owl’s nest, please take as
many photos as you like, but whatever you do, don’t harass them or upset their
daily life cycle. After all, they were here
way before we were so they have a right to the land and would speak up if they
could. Please give them the space they deserve.
as it will give you a much better
understanding of these beautiful creatures.