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On The Hunt!

I watched this young burrowing owl from the car window; this is one of 4 siblings. This one spied a grasshopper while sitting on top of a mullein stalk, and is now old enough and skillful enough that s/he can see it pretty quickly and grab it. So far, mom and dad still come in with mice or toads or crickets for the youngsters, but they are learning to hunt on their own and getting pretty good at it!

Burrowing owls are born underground in burrows, often times these are burrows built by prairie dogs. They hunt crickets, grasshoppers, and other bugs, as well as small mammals such as mice, and small reptiles. Their numbers have declined sharply with human alteration of their habitat and the decline of prairie dogs and ground squirrels.

This photo was taken near Greeley, Colorado, on July 30th, 2017