The Burrowing Owl (athene cunicularia) is an owl mostly active at dawn and dusk, though they will hunt the whole 24 hours if they have young. Burrowing Owls are also fairly terrestrial birds and can often be seen making long glides.

Burrowing Owls eat arthropods, small rodents, reptiles, amphibians, young rabbits, bats, and small birds. They often watch from afar and silently glide to their target.

Burrowing Owls are usually monogamous, but sometimes males will have two mates. Mating begins in late March and April, and they will nest in abandoned burrows, man-made boxes, although they prefer to dig their owl holes if the soil allows. There are usually "satellite" burrows dug around the main ones. These are for adult males during nesting and juveniles after they emerge from the nest. Interestingly, Burrowing Owls tend to nest in loose neighborhoods for defense. They lay clutches of 6-9 eggs and only the female incubates them. Pairs will often return to the same nesting spot multiple years in a row.

Burrowing Owls live in dry grasslands, deserts, and among ponderosa pines. They can be found all throughout the North American plains region, Mexico, and the South American highlands. In North America, they travel north to the states and Canada to breed, and migrate to southern Mexico and Guatemala during non-breeding. Regardless of the time of year, Burrowing Owls can always be found in northern Mexico and southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California.

Fun Facts:

- a Burrowing Owlet's distress call sounds like a rattlesnake

- When disturbed, Burrowing Owls will often run away instead of fly