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Most owl species don’t build their own nests. They appropriate nests built by other birds or they lay their eggs in some location that they find to be acceptable. Great Horned Owls, for example, will take over nests built by Red-tailed Hawks or Cooper’s Hawks or they’ll just pick a likely looking site. I’ve known these owls to lay their eggs amid the fronds of a palm tree, for example. Western Screech Owls often appropriate the cavities dug in Saguaro Cacti by Gila Woodpeckers.
What about Burrowing Owls? Do they dig their own burrows? The answer is complicated, because Burrowing Owls will appropriate burrows dug by other species, but they’ll also on very rare occasions dig their own burrows. And often, they will “improve” burrows that they appropriate.
Here’s a burrow that I discovered recently along with one of its adult occupants.
By the looks of its entrance this burrow is gigantic, far larger than the owls who occupy it. Did the owl pair living there dig it? It’s doubtful. More likely, the burrow existed before these owls took it over. But it’s also very likely that the pair has made some considerable home improvements. Burrowing Owls have been known to dig out tunnels that are several feet long. It’s pretty obvious from this owl’s dirt-covered legs and feet that it has been hard at work.
This burrow is underneath a pile of concrete debris that once formed an irrigation canal in southern Arizona’s farmlands. At some point the canal was removed and the debris was piled in a long line paralleling the canal’s previous location. Years of rainfall have caused the dirt underneath the concrete pile to erode in places, leaving cavities that the owls find to be excellent starting points for burrow construction.
Image made with a Canon R5, Canon EF 400mm f4 DO II lens+Canon EF 1.4x telextender, M setting (auto ISO), ISO 1600, f5.6 @ 1/4000.
Sonoran Images 