Burrowing Owl - Ross Feldner

This clever bird has developed a tactic for attracting prey that is similar to baiting a hook when fishing. Burrowing Owls sometimes gather animal dung from nearby fields and place it around their burrows. The “bait” attracts dung beetles, which are major prey of theirs. One study compared dung beetle remnants in regurgitated pellets of owls that had dung placed around their burrows with those that did not. Owls with dung near their burrows consumed 10 times more beetles than the others!

Burrowing Owls have another clever trick. They often nest and roost in the burrows made by ground squirrels, a strategy also used by rattlesnakes. When threatened, the owl retreats to the burrow and produces rattling and hissing sounds similar to those of a rattlesnake.

Burrowing Owls are found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, and deserts in North and South America where they eat mainly large insects and small rodents.

They nest and roost in burrows, hence their name. However, they usually do not construct these burrows themselves but repurpose abandoned burrows that were previously excavated by species such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels, foxes and badgers.

Burrowing Owls have longer legs than other owls, which enables them to sprint when pursuing its prey, much like the Greater Roadrunner. They typically go airborne only in short bursts.