Burrowing Owl

Facts

IUCN LEAST CONCERN (LC)

Facts about this animal

The burrowing owl is a small owl, about 23 cm tall, with very long legs and a short tail. The plumage of the body is greyish-brown and spotted with white. The round head has a white stripe above the eyes, and the throat is white. Burrowing owls' eyes are bright yellow.

The female lays 7 to 9 eggs, and she and the male take turns sitting on them. Three to four weeks later, the eggs hatch and fluffy chicks emerge. The parent owls stay deliver live prey to the young to teach them to hunt and kill. The young leave the parent owls at the end of the summer. By then they have grown their adult feathers and can hunt alone.

Burrowing owls nest underground. They usually do not dig their own burrows but use abandoned mammal burrows which they sometimes enlarge.

Burrowing owls eat lots of insects, as well as ground squirrels, voles, mice, small birds, lizards and dead animals. They capture prey in many ways including: diving from the air, gliding from a perch, and jumping on top of their prey from the ground.

Did you know?
that the male burrowing owl stands guard outside his burrow for weeks, protecting his young? As a consequence, the sun bleaches his head feathers to a lighter colour, and, by late summer, you can tell which owl is the male of a pair by his light-coloured head.

Factsheet
Class	AVES
Order	STRIGIFORMES
Family	STRIGIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Athene cunicularia
Name (English)	Burrowing Owl
Name (French)	Chevêche des terriers
Name (German)	Kanincheneule
Name (Spanish)	Lechuza de las vizcacheras
Local names	Brasil: Coruja-buraqueira Venezuela: Mochuelo de hoyo
CITES Status	Appendix II

Photo Copyright by
Alan D. Wilson

Distribution

Distribution
Range	North and South America
Habitat	Open, dry grasslands, agricultural and range lands, and desert habitats
Wild population	Unknown, but populations are declining
Zoo population	219 reported to ISIS (2005)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

Owls travel best in completely dark boxes. Boxes should be slightly longer than the head to tail length of the bird intended to travel, and wide and high enough for the bird to be able to stand or lie down in comfort without banging its shoulders or head. A well made wooden box with no perches is required, with carpet or some other non slip surface fixed on the floor and a padded ceiling, with air-holes on either side. The easiest type of door to use is an upward sliding door at one end. The door can then be slid up a small amount; the bird visualised before being grasped by the legs, carefully, through the small opening before sliding the door fully open for removal. A handle fixed to the top of the box makes carrying easier.

For air transport, Container Note 20 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Why do zoos keep this animal

The reason for keeping burrowing owls in zoos is primarily educational as they are the only owl species to live underground. Burrowing owls can also be associated with prairie dogs or vizcachas for multispecies exhibits displaying grasslands.

How this animal should be kept

Pinioning or wing clipping is unacceptable for any of the owl species, which use flight as their main method of locomotion, so aviaries with enclosed tops are needed to prevent birds escaping. An aviary of at least 5 m² surface and a height of at least 2.5 m is required for a pair of medium-sized owls. The size should be increase by 2 m² for each additional adult. To ensure the birds have a feeling of security, at least one side (and better still two sides) of the aviary should be of a solid material. This also allows for keepers to approach for husbandry purposes without being seen by the birds. For the other sides, welded mesh appears to be the most suitable material, with a mesh area of 25mm x 25mm, but also nylon netting may be used. Chicken wire is an unsuitable material.

A public safety barrier should be built 1 m away from the enclosure fence to discourage visitors from putting fingers or foreign objects though wire mesh fronts.

Provision of enough high, horizontal or vertical, perches for each bird is essential; owls generally feel more secure on higher perches, especially above ‘people height’. Perches should be positioned so as to make maximum use of aviary space and encourage the birds to exercise. Subterraneous nest boxes and several areas providing shelter and protection from cold should be provided.

Owls should be fed once a day. The diet consists of freshly killed or fresshly (but completely!) thawed rodents, quails and one day old chicks. The owls should have access to clean water for drinking at all times.