These owl do not dig their own burrow but rather "borrow" squirrel burrows or from other burrowing animals. However it seems that in Florida the nature of the soil allow them to dig their own burrows, but that is not the case here in California and also in Canada where they have to rely on existing burrows digged by ground squirels or prairie dogs. It is interesting to note that the squirrel has many defenses against predators in its colony, but it does not use them against the owl. It treats the owl very much like another squirrel, and not as a possible predator. The burrowing owl can surely eat small baby squirrels but if that may have hapened, it is very rare. Although the burrowing owl look larger than ground squirrels, it weighs only a quarter of a pound - one-fifth that of a full-grown ground squirrel - and is no threat to an adult squirrel. The squirrels also benifit from the burrowing owl vigilence at protecting the territory and warning about potential ennemies.


Burrowing owls demonstrate a unique defense against predators: when threatened, both young and adult owls hiss from inside their burrows – imitating the sound of a rattlesnake to deter the predator from entering. If faced to a predator and no way to escape, they will display the "white-and-tall" stance (in which the white feathers around the eyes and beak become more obvious), which consist of spreading their wings wide and bobing on one foot and another just like a sumo restler. This behavior is intended to make that tiny owl look much bigger and fierce than it is in reality and to intimidate a predator. You can see the "wide-and-tall" behavior in this gallery when the owl saw a cat walking near by.


Burrowing owls are some of the most useful birds of prey as they eat a hudge amount of insects and mice. Unfortunatly these beautiful birds have declined and are now threatened in California. They are considered "endangered" in British Culumbia, Canada and are disapearing at an alarming rate. In California, one important threat to this bird are the windmill farms that kill between 100 to 300 of them each year, as well as killing other raptors like the beautiful golden eagle. Law suits are undergoing to try to make the responsible companies to take action and make those power windmill safer to birds but it will take time and a lot of public support. The bird has all but disappeared from most Bay Area counties and is headed for the same fate in Contra Costa, Alameda, and Santa Clara Counties. The primary causes of the decline are the rapid conversion of open lands to urban uses, the poisoning of ground squirrels, and destructive weed control practices.


If you are a landowner in California and would like to help this beautiful little owl, here are some instructions how to build artificial burrows and where to locate them on a safe and suitable location on your land:

http://www.srcsd.com/nestsite.html

if you build it, they will come :)