A New Burrowing Owl Family

The brutal heat of the summer's morning kept the activity to a minimum

I am familiar with some Burrowing Owl families who live near farmland in Pima County but a friend told me about another family up in Pinal County. We took a drive of well over an hour to get there and found the burrow among vast fields of farmland in otherwise wide open desert flats. There were several young owls there when we first arrived but most ducked down into the burrow as soon as our car stopped. One very curious young owl remained to check us out.

Juvenile Burrowing Owls, like the one in the photo above, have plain white bellies. Adults, as in the photo below, have streaked heads and a brown, mottled breast and belly. We did hear the parent owl vocalizing before she too went into the burrow. Birdnote talks about some of the vocalizations Burrowing Owls are known for.

The adult came out of the burrow again and was not too pleased by our presence. Even with our car at a reasonable distance, the adult flew from the burrow to an irrigation ditch further back. The juvenile bird flew back to be with her, and then shortly returned to its own burrow.

I clipped its wings in my photo below but thought it was neat to see the owl 'stick' the landing with its wings outspread. This bird was obviously still very aware of our presence and was watching us closely.

With its wings spread out from its body, the owl was helping to cool itself down. Birds do not have sweat glands. One of the things they do to cool off is to spread their wings away from their bodies. Spreading their wings increases the surface area exposed to the air, allowing heat to dissipate more effectively. We had arrived at 9:00 AM but it was already very hot that morning.

The Burrowing Owl decided it was a good idea to go back underground and dove towards the burrow entrance.

Its legs are tucked up and its wings are extended as it jumps through the air.

Wings up and tail spread, the owl dropped into the burrow and then disappeared.

Burrowing Owls are such curious creatures. Because they are active during the daytime and spend much of their time between naps out of their burrow, they attract human observers. Their cute expressions, or what we feel are expressions, make them even more of an attractive bird to observe. For more on the Burrowing Owls, check out Matt Griffith's piece for Tucson Bird Alliance.