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~