Burrowing Owl juveniles

Three Burrowing Owl juveniles

If you have never had the opportunity to photograph Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) juveniles I would suggest you find a burrow and be prepared to laugh yourself silly. The adult Burrowing Owls are gorgeous but they seem slightly less animated than the juveniles.

The three juveniles above were having a group preening session.

Juvenile Burrowing Owl parallaxing

Juvenile Burrowing Owls appear to parallax more than the adults, twisting, turning and bobbing their heads.  There are times that the juvies look so funny it is difficult to hold the camera and lens still because of laughing.

Winking Burrowing Owl juvie

And they wink.

Juvenile Burrowing Owl parallaxing

They can almost turn their heads upside down.

Yawning juvenile Burrowing Owl

They yawn.

Funny Face

They can make the funniest faces.

Grooming juvenile Burrowing Owl

Look for interesting poses when the juvies groom.

If you need a laugh watching these juveniles for a period of time will provide it, I can almost guarantee that.

As for owls and other nesting birds or young chicks please:

• don't harrass, molest, get too close or disturb them
• being too close can often prevent the adults from feeding the chicks
• be aware that your presence could attract predators
• respect local, state and federal laws concerning wildlife

All of these Burrowing Owl images were taken at Antelope Island State Park in northern Utah. None of them were baited.

Mia McPherson

Western Burrowing Owls are on the decline in many areas, I was contacted by Alice Wu of S.T.O.P. (Save the Owls Project) in San Diego about their petition to save Burrowing Owls locally. I created a graphic to link to their site and will soon place that on every existing post I have made on my blog to help their Burrowing Owls.

Save the Owls Project