Sally Morris

The Burrowing Owl’s upper body is coloured brown with white spots here and there. The Burrowing Owl’s legs are long and the frontsburrowing owl Burrowing Owl: Appearance, Habitat, Food of the legs are feathered. The Burrowing Owl possesses a white facial disc and yellow irises. The look of each sex is not different. The Burrowing Owl is the only owl in North America where the male is bigger than the female. APPEARANCE

Burrowing owls fly with irregular wing beats. They hover during hunting and courtship, and may flap their wings asynchronously (not up and down together). Juveniles can give a rattlesnake like buzz when threatened. This fools predators into thinking that there is something a lot more dangerous than an owlet in the burrow. The brown feathers make it harder to spot the burrowing owl in the dry grass. Burrowing Owls migrate south for the winter. ADAPTATIONS

Burrowing owls live on the prairies. In Canada they nest in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta. There have been sightings in southern Manitoba. The owls are being reintroduced in southern British Columbia. Burrowing owls Burrowing owls do not dig their own burrows, but they modify the burrows of prairie dogs, badgers, Richardson's Ground Squirrels, coyotes, and even fox. When a predator approaches, the young retreat into the burrow and make a sound like that of a rattlesnake to frighten off intruders - a very effective strategy! HABITAT

The Burrowing Owl is sometimes classified in the monotypic genus Speotyto. Burrowing owls are consumers. CLASSIFICATION

ROLE IN THE FOOD WEB It all starts with the sun and decomposed animals and other decomposed things making grass. Rodent and insects eats grass, other insects and nuts, if there are no nuts, insect food and grass there will be no rodents, birds and insect. The next animals are the bird and the rabbit that eats the rodent and insects. They eat the rodent, insect and the burrowing owl eats the bird and the rabbit but the rodent and the other birds’ decomposers away by bacteria. The burrowing owl also eats grasshoppers, gophers, reptiles, bats, sparrows, fruits, seeds, then the hawk eats the burrowing owl and, the hawk decomposers away and becomes plants and grass, then it starts all again. But if the rodent and the other things gets sick by bacteria the bird, rabbit, burrowing owl and the hawk will die.

Habitat loss As with many endangered species, one of the main problems facing burrowing owls today is the loss of habitat (the land and resources) that they need to survive. Low reproduction Like any other species, burrowing owls need food to survive and raise their chicks. If not enough food is available to them, they will not be able to raise as many chicks as they would if food was plentiful. High mortality Although burrowing owls are predators, they are not at the top of the prairie food chain, which means that they are also in danger of becoming prey for other predatory species. Larger owls, hawks, coyotes, foxes, weasels, and badgers all naturally prey on burrowing owls. However, domestic dogs and cats have also been known to make a meal out of unsuspecting burrowing owls. WHY THEY HAVE BECOME AT RISK

The long-term recovery goal for the Burrowing Owl is to reverse the population decline in Canada and maintain a self-perpetuating, well- distributed population of at least 3000 breeding pairs within the four western provinces. These pairs should encompass the 1993 distribution of Burrowing Owls in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, with at least 30 wild pairs distributed within their historical range in the Thompson/Nicola and Okanagan regions of British Columbia. The shortterm (i.e., over the next 5 years) population and distribution objective for this recovery strategy is to reach the 2004 estimated population size (800 pairs) and distribution. RECOVERY