Burrowing Owl Athene cunicularia Molina       Field Guide IDs: NG-256; G-178; PE-176; PW-123; AE-pl 283; AW-pl 301; AM(II)-168 Nest Location Nest Type Eggs & Mating System Dev. & Parental Care Primary & 2ndary Diet.. Foraging Strategy F-M? I: 21-28 DAYS SEMIALTRICIAL 2 M-F 7-9 (6-11) MONOG F: 28 DAYS MF RODENTS LIZARDS BIRDS HOVER & .....POUNCE GROUND .....GLEAN BREEDING: Grassland, prairie, savanna, open areas near human habitation, esp golf courses, airports. 1 brood. DISPLAYS: Courtship: ritual feeding; pair choose nest site, stand atop burrow, quietly call, neck, and bill, also stretch legs and wings. NEST: In mammal burrow, occ enlarged by kicking dirt backward. Nest chamber lined with cow chips, horse dung, food debris, dry grass, weeds, pellets, feathers. Occ unlined. Perennial. EGGS: White, nest-stained. 1.2" (31 mm). DIET: Hunts anytime, day or night; perches on burrow or fence post in day. Occ hawks insects. CONSERVATION: Winters s to Guatemala and El Salvador. Blue List 1972-81, Special Concern 1982, 1986; isolated FL population seriously declining; also declining on Pacific coast. Poisoning and nest site loss result from human efforts to control squirrels and prairie dogs. NOTES: Usu nest in small colonies within ground squirrel and prairie dog colonies. Pair bond usu > 1 year. Female remains inside burrow during most of egg laying and incubation, fed by male through brooding; begins foraging for self and young when they are 3-4 weeks old. Burrow often swarming with fleas; new burrow often chosen 2-4 weeks after young emerge. Families remain together into Sept. When disturbed in burrow, mimics rattlesnake's rattle. Often placed in genus Speotyto STANFORD. NOTES: ESSAYS: Blue List; Vocal Copying; Nest Sanitation REFERENCES: Marti, 1974; Martin, 1973; Rich, 1986; Thomsen, 1971.