English name         -  Burrowing Owl

Portuguese name  -  Coruja-buraqueira

Ltin Name               -   Athene cunicularia

I love photographing these birds. They live wild on the beach near us and are very accustomed to human presence, so it’s quite easy to get reasonably close to them to photograph . They always seem to have a look on their face, as if to say, “what the hell are you looking at?” 

Burrowing Owls are small, sandy colored owls with bright-yellow eyes. They live underground in burrows they’ve dug themselves or taken over from other animals. They make a chuckling or chattering call. They also bob their heads to express excitement or distress.

They live in open, treeless areas with low, sparse vegetation. The owls can be found in grasslands, deserts, and near sandy beaches, on golf courses, pastures, agricultural fields, airport medians, road embankments, in cemeteries and urban vacant lots.  

Burrowing Owls hunt at all hours of the day and night. Usually staying close to the ground, they fly, hover, walk, or run, seizing prey in their talons. They eat invertebrates and small vertebrates. They commonly hunt grasshoppers, crickets, moths, beetles, mice, voles, and shrews. They also prey on dragonflies, giant water bugs, earwigs, caterpillars, scorpions, earthworms, frogs, toads, small snakes, lizards, turtles, bats, small weasels, songbirds and small waterbirds. Burrowing Owls often store extra food to ensure an adequate supply during incubation and brooding. When food is plentiful, there underground larders can reach an impressive sizes. One cache observed contained more than 200 rodents.

The nest burrow can be several yards long and is usually less than 3 feet deep, but size depends on the mammal that originally excavated it. Burrows tend to make numerous twists and turns, with a mound of dirt at the entrance and an opening. The owls often line their burrow with livestock manure (if available) or with feathers, grass, or other materials. When owls dig their own burrows, the process may take several days, but it takes them less time to prepare the burrow for nesting when they use an existing burrow. The mating season is in early spring. The gestation period is 28 days and the clutch size can be between 3-12 eggs.
The young owls begin appearing at the burrow’s entrance two weeks after hatching and leave the nest to hunt for insects on their own after around 45 days. The chicks can fly pretty well after 6 weeks. When the young get alarmed they let off a hissing sound, which sounds like a rattle snake.

The photos of the burrowing owls were taken at Praia da Costa, (Costa beach) Vila Velha, Espirito Santo.

Burrowing owls are considered endangered in Canada and threatened in Mexico. They are also considered endangered, threatened or of special concern in nine U.S. states.