Call: Song is a two-note coo coooo. Gives series of rattles clucks, and chatters. Listen to calls of this species ». Also resident in Florida and into the Caribbean and throughout South America. They are found throughout the southern parts of eastern Washington.
Click the range map to learn more about the distribution of Burrowing Owls in Washington. What they eat: Burrowing Owls are opportunistic feeders, preying on large invertebrates, small mammals, and other birds.
Nesting: Burrowing Owls form monogamous pair bonds during the nesting season. Nest sites include rocky outcroppings, ground-squirrel burrows, drainage pipes, and artificial burrows provided by wildlife. They are the only North American bird of prey that nests exclusively underground.
Because burrowing owls are active during the day, they are a highly visible species. The owls often decorate their burrow entrances with dung, animal parts, bottle caps, aluminum foil and other trash. Scientists suspect the behavior may benefit the birds by attracting insects or signaling to other owls that the nest is occupied. During breeding season, a pale, sun-bleached male stands guard at a burrow entrance and brings food to the female, who attends to six or eight chicks in their underground sanctuary.
Strange as it seems, close-cropped fields near airport runways, like where Barclay first studied the birds, offer good burrowing owl habitat. In many places where burrowing owls could thrive, however, ground squirrels have been eradicated.
Where this has happened, biologists sometimes install artificial burrows for the birds, often with volunteer assistance from an informal network of amateur burrowing owl enthusiasts. Barclay has published plans for an artificial burrow that is used in many locations.
The bottomless molded-plastic valve box allows for a natural earthen floor, while the removable top provides easy access for biologists to monitor the birds. In recent decades, as agricultural development and urbanization have spread across Western North America, the once-numerous burrowing owl has declined in vast areas of the Great Plains and Canada.
The burrowing owl is now listed as endangered in Canada, threatened in Mexico, and a national bird of conservation concern in the United States. In addition, nine states and four Canadian provinces identify the owl as endangered, threatened or a species of special concern. A subspecies that lives only in Florida is also accorded some protections.
California, which supports one of the largest burrowing owl populations in the United States, designated the burrowing owl a species of special concern in But since then, the bird has nearly disappeared from coastal regions along the length of the state as well as from the entire San Francisco Bay area. We've actually helped them out a lot in Florida by clearing land and draining wetlands. This gives them more space of the kind they want, flat and sandy areas.
New development generally runs established colonies out, though. Central Florida learned its lesson with this one, as the population there recently dropped. For you readers out there, pick up or download this the 21st century, after all a copy of "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen. It features a colony of Florida burrowing owls in peril from commercial development and how three middle-school kids thwart corporate apathy to save it. I read the book and then saw the movie a few years ago, and I highly recommend either one for you and your family to enjoy.
Whooooo's up for some entertainment?
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