Burrowing Owls Burrow in!
Can you imagine how surprised I was when on a recent visit to relatives wintering in Cape Coral when I learned they had a Burrowing Owl residing in their front yard! The long legged yellow eyed bird came right to from his hiding place and stared at us. Staying back the recommended 20 feet, the owl looked us over, then went back into hiding.
Burrowing Owls
I had never heard of a Burrowing owl before our visit. According to All About Birds, the bird is, “a log-legend owl that hunts on the ground during the day. Burrowing Owls are small, sandy colored owls with bright yellow eyes.”
The Burrowing Owl lives underground in a burrow. They either dig the burrow or take over one dug by another like a prairie dog, ground squirrel, or tortoise. Eating insects and rodents, these endangered birds live year-round in the southern part of the US, and South America.
The Florida Owl
Cape Coral has the largest population of the threatened Burrowing Owls in Florida. It is one of several protected species along with the Gopher Tortise, Bald Eagle, Eastern Indigo Snake and Bonneted Bat. Because they are protected, the birds, their eggs, and burrows are not to be messed with. You can’t disturb, pursue, hunt, or catch the cute little birds.
Near our family members home is a hill marked with white wood stakes delineating where the owls reside. Sandy when she had found out the owl was in her yard had called the local authority, to see what she should do. “Nothing,” Sandy said was the answer. Don’t bother, don’t feed, just let the owl basically be what she learned. The person she spoke to thought he, (it was a boy, I think he should be named Burl) became separated from the nearby colony and that he was looking for a mate.
A Short Term resident
Sandy enjoys him, but hopes that Burl moves on because they have a tendency to surround a burrow with animal dung to attract insects that they catch and ea. They also may surround their burrow with items like bottle caps, paper and other trash. Burl is a beauty to be sure, but she hopes he decides to join his fellow owls in the nearby colony. In the meantime, Burl reigns supreme checking out visitors when he feeling it.
Hopes are that Burl will not “burrow in”, but in the meantime, the beautiful yellow eyed visitor brought a jolt of joy to me seeing and learning about this cool bird!
I have enjoyed seeing other birds like the Sandhill Crane, where have you been bird watching?
