
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:
Cheers to you from the precious and endangered Southern California burrowing owls~
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Loved it. Excellent. 🍀🌹
Smiling. Thanks very much დ
🌹🍀
They are so amazing in their different looks! The eyes a very beautiful. ❤️
They are little feathered QT’s! დ
They are so photogenic 😍
And they need no makeup or photoshop! დ
Oh my gosh, he’s adorable!
Yes he is! დ
Burrowing owls are so cute and friendly.
Yep. Little heart stealers! დ
I LOVE owls! They have the most interesting faces and behaviors. They are just adorable in every way. These guys are too cute and I hope we take care of them.
You and I, as usual, are in complete accord Marlene დ
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.
I have touched by the sensitivity and thoughtfulness of your words Neil. Thank you sincerely & take good care my friend დ
they really are small.. could see the size better in your earlier post.. thanks for the great pictures.. it has an adorable face.
They are tiny little lookers!! დ
Adorable!!
Agreed! Cheers to you Michele დ
🥰🥰
They’re cute little guys.
Yes they are, curious too დ
Oh my goodness, how cute!
They are little feathered heartbreakers! დ
So adorable!
Agreed! Thank you Holly დ
Love ’em … and I love the title! 😀
Smiling…. Thanks very much & cheers დ
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!
I know how wonderful it is to live amongst owls. You are lucky to have them around you. They make awesome neighbors! დ
Great title and pictures here, Cindy. Let us hope the species continues to be protected and eventually no longer will be considered endangered. Beautiful birds.
Wonderful photos, Cindy. He seems to know you. You must have a rapport 🙂
Smiling. Birds seem to like people who are alone, stand still for ages, and don’t talk….. I think I understand this!! დ
I share your hopes my friend & thank you! დ
Simply adorable! Great shots, Cindy. 🦉🙂
Thanks very much Jane & cheers to you დ
So adorable. Beautiful photographs.
Merci beaucoup mon Ami Gigi დ
They are so cute.
Yes. Cuteness personified (or owlified!) დ
So true 😊
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Aww! Beautiful!
They are lookers aren’t they! დ
Yes they are 🤍
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🤍🤍
Impressive little guys. Thanks for the info.
You are very welcome დ
What a treat! They are such beautiful birds.
Yes, they are! Very pleased you enjoyed them Janis დ
Some attitude in that last photo. Wonderful! Thanks for the interesting info.
Small in size but big in personality! Very happy you enjoyed them Michele დ
Birds with attitude! Such fabulous photos Cindy I felt I could ruffle their feathers
Smiling. Yes indeed, tiny but mighty! დ
😎
I have read about burrowing owls before so am delighted to see your detailed photographs of them.
So pleased to be able to show you Anne! დ
The burrowing owls are the cutest of all the owls. Beautifully captured, Cindy!
They are utterly adorable. Thank you Peter დ
They are so beautiful … and so endangered. Ugh. I hope that situation turns around for them soon. Thank you for your gorgeous photos, Cindy. 🙂
Thank you Lynette. I hope so too დ
So informative! They are so cute!
Very pleased you like them my friend & cheers to you დ
I love owls. So cute!
I love them too! დ
I recently got to meet a Mexican horned owl named Tara. Very gently and very sweet.
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
Thank you very much for you wonderful photos.
You are so very welcome Marie & cheers to you დ
They are cute!
Yes! დ
They are gorgeous.Love thier eyes. They would look great as a cuddly toy! 🙂
Yes they would be adorable as a cuddler დ
What a cutie Cindy, and a pity to see something so beautiful, so rarely. You’ve educated us, and given us a glimpse. May there be lots more 😀❤️🙏🏽
Thank you very much Mark and Amen. May there be many more! დ
Your usual excellent portraits
So appreciated Derrick. Cheers to you my friend დ
They are sooooo cute, but their look seems to go through and through, directly into ones soul. <3
Have a fine weekend, and stay safe, dear Cindy!
Exactly! I think this is exactly what they see. Our souls. Thank you Martha & take good care my friend დ
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
So happy you are back & wonderful to hear from you. Thanks much my friend & take good care დ
What a beautiful species of owls! Thank you for the photos.
You are most welcome Joy and I am happy you enjoyed them დ
They are adorable!
They are დ
Thank you Cindy for sharing your amazing shots with us. 🙂
Thank you more for your very kind thoughts my friend დ
I had no idea that owls burrowed!
Fascinating isn’t it დ
Cute title and pics! ❤️
Merci beaucoup mon Ami დ
You do get the best playmates Cindy but then I think, so do they.
Massive Hugs
Ohhh, you made me smile David. Thank you my friend & cheers დ
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.
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
That first photo gave me a bit of a turn. I’m awake now!
Laughing….. He’s looking into your soul and liking what he sees! დ
Aww, thanks, Little Owl!
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Oh, what a fabulous fellow. Thanks for sharing these portraits.
Thank you more for appreciating them Margaret & cheers to you დ
Wonderful images!
Grazie mille დ
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.
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
Yes they were!
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I love owls – their eyes are incredible. What great pictures!
I love my fellow owl lovers. Thank you Noelle & cheers დ
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!
Yes they do borrow burrows! Why build a house when you can move right into someone elses. Their decline is so very sad დ
Owl Airbnb’s!
Smiling!
Ahhh! I love all owls but Burrowing Owls are probably my favorite 🤎🤎 Thank you for this close-up look at them, Cindy!
They are sweet, brave and curious little amazements დ