Hoo R U?

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life

Meet the very curious burrowing owl who clearly wonders who the heck you are!

Burrowing Owls are a federally protected species in the US, Canada, and in Mexico. They are designated endangered, threatened, or a species of special concern, in nine US states, including California.

This burrowing owl pair lives at Avian Behavior International in rural Southern California. You cannot keep burrowning owls unless you are licensed and raise them for breeding, conservation, rehabilitation, and/or educational purposes.

These curious and unique ground dwelling birds live in burrows in the ground where they hide from predators and raise their young.

They are tiny, but big in looks and personality! I have only seen them in the wild a few times in the last ten years because they are now very rare where I live. But click and check out this curious wild cutie that I met a few years ago:

Look Who Came to Play Today~

Cheers to you from the precious and endangered Southern California burrowing owls~

216 thoughts on “Hoo R U?”

  7. You clearly have fortunes good hand at gathering these images (these, and all I’ve seen of yours). It is a gift when a camera is more than mere machine. Rather, it is an expression of how you see (and how the world sees you?) (I think so.) It is relationship in pure form.

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  14. I love owls. We have a few living in our trees here, mostly barred owls and great horned owls. I think I’ve seen either saw whet or burrowing owls many years ago. But generally we hear owls more often than we see them. Beautiful birds! Your photos are great!

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    1. We have horned owls at The Holler. They are often on our roof. We hoo back and forth at each other. Once at night, one responded to my hooing by dropping down and flying swiftly by my head, close enough to ruffle my hair, but not touching me. Amazing დ

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  36. After an involuntary break of six months I’m almost back to normal life and enjoy your pictures and posts pretty much. Thank you for sharing! Cheers, Uwe

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  43. They are numerous in Cape Coral, Florida where an ideal habitat was created by developers by accident but their biggest threats are cats, either allowed to roam by their owners or feral cats. Cats get far more than hawks and other birds of prey.

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    1. Good & bad. So good you have many of them, not good at all about the cats. Cats are significant killers of threatened songbird species too. I need to visit Cape Coral დ

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  47. I apologize if this is a duplicate comment. I love these little owls and these are great images, Cindy. I read an MG book awhile ago, where there was a group of school children trying to save an area from being developed, where burrowing owls lived. I wish I could remember the title, but it was quite good and had a great message for the next generation about conservation.

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    1. I have some memory of what you are talking about. I read about it too. If I recall correctly, they were successful in saving the space for the owls which was wonderful დ

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  49. These are charming birds. We have a few that live around us here in West Texas. The like to live near the prairie dog towns that are all around us. I think they borrow the prairie dog’s burrows and have a steady food supply there. Sadly, we don’t see as many as we used to. Thank you for sharing your lovely photos!

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  51. Such a beautiful bird– wonderful photos, Cindy. State of the Birds 2022 just came out and the news is saddening, so many birds are declining, many are favorites. A majority are shore birds– we need to start restoring wetlands and other wild habitats or we will lose these gorgeous birds.

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  62. Vicki

    Love owls, but have actually never seen one (except for Tawny Frogmouths which are a differenet species). You images are superb and beautifully composed.

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  72. Cindy, I know you posted these darling owls just for me … and I thank you!! They are just so cute, and I’d love to hold one — gently! — in my hand. Their eyes look so intelligent, and I love the tiny “wedding bands” they have wrapped around their legs!

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    1. The wild ones are actually easy to photograph as you can see with the wild guy I made friends with. The difficult part with wild burrowning owls is finding them because they are so rare now დ

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  75. Pingback: Hoo R U? β€” – Echoes in the Mist

  79. Aren’t they gorgeous? I bet they’re equally soft as well. It’s heartbreaking to think so many species are endangered or extinct. I’m glad you’re able to share and inform with your wonderful photos.

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    1. Yes. WP again. I foolishly tried, and then removed, a plug-in WP advertised as optimal, because it clearly wasn’t. Removing it shut down my site. I got the site restored via a helpful WP engineer. Now I have to try to remove the mess the plug-in left behind. Thanks to you, I will now work on it more. Thank you Charles for continuing to alert me. I hope all is well with you & take good care დდ

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  89. They’re so awwdorable, we only have seen them in a Zoo where they did a great performanceπŸ’—Great pictures Cindy. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Double Pawkisses for a Happy WeekendπŸΎπŸ˜½πŸ’ž

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  96. I think I watch a show once about a burrowing owl on a golf course… I think they were able to trasfer it to a new area where it met others and a mate!

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