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An endangered bird in much of its original
range, this small comical owl is commonly seen in the Imperial Valley all
year long.
Unlike most owls, this one is very active during the day. Feeding on large insects such as grasshoppers and crickets, they can be seen standing guard outside their burrows along the many ditch banks throughout the Valley. In my younger days, we called them "Johnny Owls"
and the small round-tailed ground squirrels they fed on "Johnny Squirrels"
- pesticides have since reduced the numbers of those squirrels.
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If you are interested in learning more about this bird online - I recommend you start with the Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/Infocenter/infocenter.htmlThey present photographs, songs, identification tips, maps, and life history information for North American birds - including the Burrowing Owl
OTHER OUTSIDE LINKS FOR THIS BIRD:
Endangered Species Recovery Program - The ESRP is a cooperative research program administered by the Stanislaus Foundation, Cal State University, Fresno. This profile contains a nice image, field facts and references.
Operation Burrowing Owl - "Nature Saskatchewan" - a Canadian Web site - has a nice image with Burrowing Owl information and links to additional fact sheets.
This site is maintained by:
Eldon R. Caldwell
Imperial Valley College
Email: eldonc@imperial.cc.ca.us