Description/Conservation
Florida burrowing owls are approximately nine-inches tall with a 21-inch wingspan. Their yellow eyes are set off by white "eyebrows," and they have long, unfeathered legs. Burrowing owls are listed as a Species of Special Concern by the State of Florida. The owls are protected by the U.S. Migratory Bird Treaty Act, too. The birds are threatened by loss of habitat and by urban predators such as snakes, opossums, raccoons, cats, and dogs.
How Broward County Parks Help Protect the Florida Burrowing Owl
- Burrows are roped off and marked with warning signs.
- Active burrows are mapped at the beginning of the nesting season.
- Nests are monitored throughout the nesting season and nest success is recorded.
- Some birds in some parks have been banded as part of a scientific study to monitor owl dispersal. Each banded owl is issued a Federal Identification Number from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, recorded on a silver leg band. Each owl in the study is also banded with a brown study band used for identification and to track movements. If you spot an owl with a leg band, record the numbers on the band and the location of the bird and report this information to the park office.
Interesting Facts
- Burrowing owls are sometimes called the "howdy bird" because of their habit of bowing and bobbing when approached.
- Burrowing owls have 13 distinct calls, more than any other North American owl.
- Female burrowing owls incubate their eggs while the males hunt. The male brings the food back and places it at the entrance to the burrow. The female takes it inside and to the owlets.
- Baby owls will emerge from the burrow when they are 10 to 14 days old. They learn to hunt by pouncing on dead or injured insects brought to them by their parents.
- Burrowing owls can mimic the sound of a rattlesnake.
- Male burrowing owls are often lighter-colored than females. This may be due to sun-bleaching, since the female stays in the burrow to incubate the eggs while the male stands guard outside.
Food
Burrowing owls eat mainly grasshoppers, beetles, roaches, mole crickets, and other insects. The owls will also eat anoles and other small lizards, small snakes, tree frogs, and small rodents. They occasionally eat roadkill or birds that have flown into windows.
Habits
The birds usually live in pairs, sometimes in loose colonies. They're active during both the night and the day. When approached, the owls bob and bow and make a "cack-cack" call. They're able to hover during flight in order to catch insects.
Burrows
Burrows are typically four to eight feet long and up to three feet deep. The owls prefer open grassy areas for burrowing. The birds can build a burrow in just two days and often dig it out in sandy soil but will occasionally use abandoned gopher tortoise burrows. The burrows are usually decorated with grass clippings, feathers, bits of paper, and manure. Most of their eggs are laid in March. Owls sometimes use culverts or drainpipes as burrows. Just like sea turtles, the birds often return to the same area year after year.
How to Locate a Burrow
The easiest way to find burrows is to visit a spot where owls have burrowed in the past. In Broward County Parks, burrowing owls can be found in five of our regional parks -- Brian Piccolo, Central Broward, Markham, Plantation Heritage, and Vista View -- and all are roped off and marked with warning signs. People should not feed, harass, or otherwise disturb their home. Burrow entrances are holes approximately six inches across. The entrance usually has a pile of sand or dirt in front of it. You can tell if a burrow is active by looking outside the entrance hole for feathers, bits of bone, undigested insects, footprints, and freshly dug sand. When eggs are present, the outside of the burrow is often decorated with shiny objects such as pieces of aluminum foil.
You can look, but don't touch!
