Bird mystery: burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia (guardian)

Burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia (formerly;) (Speotyto cunicularia), sometimes called OWL, owl, Billy ground short-eared OWL legs, prairie OWL and OWL of prairie dogs. This individual has been photographed at the main battery at Fort Travis on Port Bolivar near Galveston, Texas, USA.

Image: Joseph Kennedy, 6 February 2007 [velociraptorize].
Nikon D200 SLR camera 1/200 additional f/8.0 at iso200 mm EMT

Question: This bird species iconic mystery in North America has several unusual characters, he gave his scientific and common names. Can you me more about it?

Response: This is a burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia, a small species that is known by a variety of interesting regions names. This species is unusual among owls because the male is long wings and is slightly larger than the female. These small birds live primarily on short-grass prairie and consumes insects and small mammals - pests of agricultural land.

Its scientific name in honour of Athena, Goddess of wisdom whose favorite bird was an OWL and the Latin cunicularia, word meaning a minor or a borrower obtained burrowing. As the name implies, they nest in abandoned by mammal burrows. Interestingly, these birds frequently redistribute their chicks in more den after hatching thus predators cannot kill their entire family.

Embedded below is a radio programme minute 2 of the Burrowing Owl, thanks to my friends at BirdNote radio:

Visit the Burrowing Owl program page.

We invite you to explore all daily mystery birds ranging on their dedicated graphic index page.

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