BURROWING OWLan endangered species in Canada since 1995image credit: Alan and Elaine Wilson, Nature's Pics Online WHERE THEY LIVE Burrowing owls live on the prairies. In Canada they nest in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta. There have been sightings in southern Manitoba. The owls are being reintroduced in southern British Columbia. Burrowing owls use burrows that were dug by badgers, ground squirrels or foxes. DESCRIPTION It is a funny looking owl with long thin legs. It looks like it is standing on stilts. There are white eyebrows over its large eyes. The feathers are brown with white spots. The underparts are light-coloured with brown spots. image credit: Alan and Elaine Wilson, Nature's Pics Online FOOD Burrowing Owls eat a lot of insects. Their favourites are grasshoppers and beetles. They also eat small birds, mice, voles and ground squirrels. image credit: Alan and Elaine Wilson, Nature's Pics Online NESTING and the YOUNG The burrow is lined with dried plants, feathers and cow dung (dried manure). Six to twelve eggs are laid. Not all the eggs hatch at once. The egg that is laid first hatches first. The nest can get overcrowded. The older ones stand outside near the doorway and wait for the parents to bring something to eat. The parents might use more than one burrow as a home for the young owls. It is also safer to have more than one burrow. image credit: Alan and Elaine Wilson, Nature's Pics Online ADAPTATION and PROTECTION The brown feathers make it harder to spot the burrowing owl in the dry grass. If an enemy comes near the father sounds an alarm and tries to lead the animal away from the burrow. If an enemy enters the burrow the young make a hissing noise that sounds like a snake. This scares some animals away. Burrowing Owls migrate south for the winter. ENEMIES amd DANGERS This little bird has many enemies. Snakes, owls, hawks, badgers, skunks, foxes, weasels, cats and dogs eat the young birds or the eggs. Humans are also their enemies because people destroy the nesting areas.
The burrows can get flooded during a heavy rainfall.
image credit: Alan and Elaine Wilson, Nature's Pics Online THE BURROWING OWL IS DISAPPEARING Why is this happening? Here are a few reasons.
HOW PEOPLE CAN HELP
People have to leave
the nesting sites alone. Farmers must be careful when spraying
for weeds and for grasshoppers. If Burrowing Owls
live nearby the spray might be harmful to these little owls .
BURROWING OWL information, reports |
information gathered from the pamphlet Prairie Threatened Wildlife and
Hinterland Who's Who
drawing by J.Giannetta
J.Giannetta, (2001) updated 2011
images courtesy of : Alan and Elaine Wilson; Nature's Pics Online
license Creative Commons Attribution-share Alike 3.0 Unported
jgiannet@hotmail.com