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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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.
It is so horrible. All the canaries in caves worldwide are singing to warn us and we are ignoring them ):
I LOVE these little owls. So adorable. Your photos are great!!
I დ my friends who დ owls!
What a hoot! 😋 They are adorable owls, and seemingly quite friendly and curious. How fun to see a wild one willing to model for you Cindy!
Yes it was quite thrilling. He may be tiny, but he is mighty! დ
Thank you so much for introducing burrowing owl to us! These photos are stunning. The details… WoW!
Awww….. Thanks much Amy დ
Thanks for the smile this morning, so cute!!!!!
You just made me smile so we’re even! დ
Awww! They are precious with their big round eyes!
They are indeed. Cheers to you Kerry დ
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉
Fantastic.
What a hoot!
🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉
Smiling! Grazie Graham დ
😌🙏✨
Gorgeous photos! I love owls!
What wonderful photos!
Thanks much Dawn. I hope Murph is feeling better. Sorry for both of you and sending healing hopes his way დ
Love those eyes and nails!! Thanks for sharing this cute couple 💕
They are serious QT’s aren’t they! Happy you like them Val & cheers დ
Just love those owls!
I დ my friends who დ owls! Thank you June დ
Love owls, but have actually never seen one (except for Tawny Frogmouths which are a differenet species). You images are superb and beautifully composed.
So apppreciated Vicki. Thank you sincerely. I have seen a tawny frogmouth. I have photos of it. Amazing bird. I think they are in the nightjar family დ
What an amazing owl Cindy, your photos are a wonderful showcasing of this beautiful bird 😊
Honored you think so & thank you for letting me know. Cheers to you დ
Owl intoduce myself. I’m Hootiful Houdini. Lol! These are owlstanding shots…I’m talon you, my friend. [ᓀ˵◇˵ᓂ] ❤️🌈
Hootiful Houdini? Priceless clever one დ
ʚ♡⃛ɞ(ू•ᴗ•ू❁)
Tanks Cindy. Amazing and powerful pics
So appreciated! Thank you & cheers to you დ
Fabulous.. and those clear eyes!!!
Thanks much. They are amazing aren’t they! დ
Out of their burrow to pose for you 🙂
Quite thoughtful of him! 😉
Stunningly beautiful one of my favourite birds 🙂 x
Mine too. Owls are fascinating creatures and I am happy you like them Carol დ
I had no idea that some owls burrow. Outstanding photos, Cindy!
It is quite a creative concept for a bird isn’t it. Thanks much Jennie & Happy Thanksgiving დ
Yes, it really is. Happy Thanksgiving to you, Cindy!
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Absolutely adorable, Cindy, spectacular shots!
Merci beaucoup mon Ami Lisa დ
What a beautiful owl! I love owls! Happy Thanksgiving wishes Cindy!
Happy Thanksgiving dear Lisa დ
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!
How did you know? I certainly did post them for you! Your comments make me smile. Have an awesome day დ
Such beautiful burrowing owls, Cindy! I’m glad they are protected–much easier to photograph! 😉
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
It’s amazing that something with such big claws can still look cute – it must be those amazing eyes!
Well, eyes are the windows to the soul! Maybe your seeing into his true soul დ
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Many thanks Sharon დ
These pictures are so precious! Fabulous captures.
Awww….. So pleased you enjoyed & thank you very much დ
Looks like he is saying “WHAT!!!” lol. Love the pic. Cindy.
He does look like! Pleased you enjoyed Darnell and let me know Darnell. Cheers my friend დ
Beautiful eyes. I’m wondering why a gold ring is on the left claw? <3
The eyes definitely have it!!! That is is identifier tag for legal requirements. Cheers to you my friend დ
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.
Yes. It is heartbreaking. Thank you for caring my friend & take good care დ
awwwww 🥰😍😀
So cute!
Yes they are QT’s! დ
Funny, but beautiful!
Happy you enjoyed Alexander & cheers to you დ
I am not tired to say, you live in birds paradise🌹
Smiling. Take good care my friend დ
Thank you🙂
I love owls of any sort, but these little ones are particularly cute! Thanks for these delightful closeups. I recently came across this effort to help them survive and prosper. https://www.myoregon.gov/2020/06/08/burrowing-owls-find-unique-nests-at-camp-umatilla/ (Thought you might find it of interest?)
How wonderful that people commit their time and effort to save these magical creatures. Thank you so much for sharing this with me! So encouraging დ
Just so cute
Yes they are! Take good care Charlotte დ
Fabulous shots, Cindy! Just too cute for words.
Thank you very much Eugenia, they are ultimate QT’s დ
My pleasure, Cindy.
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i Love owls. And these are just lovely
I love them too Manuela დ
Cindy, thank you so much for these wonderful photographs!
Thank you much more Charles for being you დდ
Cindy, it seems once again that I cannot reblog your post. That is a shame.
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
I think I added the WP share button. Can you see if it is enabled for you?
They’re so awwdorable, we only have seen them in a Zoo where they did a great performance💗Great pictures Cindy. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Double Pawkisses for a Happy Weekend🐾😽💞
Happy post Thanksgiving to you my friend and thank you. You are right!They are simply awwwdorable creatures დ
Beautiful birds.
All creatures great and small დ
Wonderful to get these close-up views of the burrowing owls, Cindy.
So sad to hear they are endangered! I hope the right people are taking measures to keep their species alive and well. Thank you for the heads up and super pics!! 💌
We did time time in Florida – love the wildlife, not crazy about the heat – and watching burrowing owls was a definite perk.
Yep. I understand from Florida bloggers, about how the state has lots of burrowing owls. Amazing to me and clearly a perk დ
How beautiful!
Yes. He is so beautiful დ
So adorable, these are great close up images.
I am so happy you enjoyed them! Thank you very much დ
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!
Yes. I may have read this too. Love people who care დ
I love these owls so much! They have such beautifully expressive faces. Wonderful photos.
So happy you enjoyed & thank you Bridgette! დ