The Owl at Ground Level: How Burrowing Owls Make a Home Underground
Meet the long-legged desert owl whose life connects an underground shelter with the open ground above it.
The owl is almost level with the dirt. Behind it, an opening disappears into shadow. Bright eyes hold your attention, but the smaller detail—the hole beside the bird—explains much of its life.
A Burrowing Owl’s home extends beyond what a photograph can show. There is the entrance, the passage below it, a protected nesting space and the open ground where the bird watches and hunts. Understanding those pieces makes an ordinary patch of desert look different.
- A home below ground. Burrows provide shelter and space for nesting.
- Usually a borrowed beginning. Western birds commonly reuse tunnels made by other animals.
- Open ground is part of the home. Low vegetation, lookout points and food nearby matter.
- Watch without crowding. Give the owl and its entrance room.
An owl you look down to find
Burrowing Owls are small, with long legs, short tails, yellow eyes and rounded heads without prominent ear tufts. Adults wear brown plumage marked with pale spots and a conspicuous light eyebrow. Their upright stance can make them look larger than they are; Cornell lists a body length of roughly 7.5–9.8 inches. [1]
The useful clue is the whole arrangement: a small owl, standing low in open country, with ground and vegetation around it rather than a canopy overhead. A fence post or dirt mound may serve as a perch. The bird need not be standing beside a visible hole to be a Burrowing Owl.
Who dug the burrow?
The name can give the impression that every owl excavates its own home. In the western part of the species’ range, the usual starting point is a burrow made by another animal. Ground squirrels and other burrowing mammals provide ready-made underground space. The owls can then enlarge and maintain the passage with their bills and feet. Self-excavation is more usual in Florida and the Caribbean; western birds do it only occasionally. [2]
That relationship changes how we think about habitat. Protecting an owl is not just a matter of leaving the bird alone. The animals that make holes, and the ground in which they can keep making them, are part of the owl’s housing supply.
Explore the home above and below ground
Select a numbered feature to see what it contributes. The illustration opens an imaginary slice through the soil; the underground layout is explanatory, not something documented in the photographs.
ABOVE AND BELOW GROUND
A small entrance. A much bigger home.
Explore four parts of a burrowing owl’s habitat.
01 / THE HABITAT OUTSIDE
Room to see—and to hunt
Short, sparse vegetation and low lookout points suit a bird that hunts close to the ground. The land around the entrance matters as much as the hole itself.
02 / THE DOORWAY
Often built by another animal
Western burrowing owls usually occupy tunnels dug by ground squirrels or other animals. They can enlarge and maintain them, using their bills and feet.
03 / THE PASSAGE BELOW
A route away from the exposed surface
The tunnel connects the entrance to shelter underground. Natural burrows vary in length, depth and bends; this single curved passage is a simplified example.
04 / THE NESTING SPACE
Where a breeding season begins
Eggs and young occupy the nest space below ground. A family may use nearby burrows too. Three illustrated eggs represent nesting, not a typical or fixed clutch size.
Original conceptual illustration. Not to scale and not a diagram of a photographed burrow. Tap a label to explore; with a keyboard, use the arrow keys between tabs. The explanations remain available without JavaScript.
Why the land around the hole matters
A tunnel by itself is not a complete habitat. Burrowing Owls use open landscapes with low or sparse vegetation, including deserts, grasslands and agricultural areas. They can also occupy some human-altered places, such as vacant lots and airport margins. [3]
Open ground gives a low-perching bird a view across its surroundings. It also offers places to pursue food: insects and small vertebrates, caught by walking, running or short flights. A mound beside an entrance can be both a place to pause and a place to watch.
This adaptability can be misleading. Seeing an owl in a developed landscape does not mean every empty lot will support one, or that a burrow can be moved without consequences. The combination of cover, prey, usable soil and neighboring habitat matters.
Daylight is only part of the story
These owls are often visible in daylight, but they are not exclusively daytime hunters. They forage during the day and at night. Seeing one in the morning therefore does not tell you how much of its feeding happened after dark. [2]
Watch the bird’s posture before watching your camera settings. An owl may stretch upright, turn its head or bob its body. Bobbing can occur when it is alarmed and while locating prey, so it is not a simple, one-purpose signal. If your approach causes the bird to become watchful, retreat or disappear, give it more room.
There is another unexpected detail at some entrances: animal dung. Burrowing Owls collect it, and the material can attract beetles and other insects they eat. Cornell also describes food caches beneath the surface. The doorway may be part lookout, part route to shelter and part feeding opportunity. [4]
The hidden part of family life
During breeding, the nest space shelters eggs and developing young below ground. Some pairs have several nearby burrows, which can offer additional refuge as young birds begin exploring. A single opening in a photograph does not tell us how many passages are occupied nearby. [2]
Young owls eventually appear outside the entrance before they are accomplished fliers. Do not assume that a small owl on the ground has fallen from a tree nest: ground-level activity belongs to this species’ normal development. Observe from a distance, and seek qualified wildlife help if you have a specific reason to think a bird is injured.
The underground home also creates challenges. The surface can be exposed to intense weather, while burrows need suitable soil and drainage. Shelter is useful, but it does not make a nest immune to flooding, collapse, predators or disturbance.
Conservation starts with the ground
Habitat loss and the removal of burrowing mammals can take away both living space and future nest sites. Conservation work in Southern California has therefore included managing vegetation, supporting ground squirrels and installing artificial burrows. [5]
Those are connected tasks. A manufactured chamber cannot replace every quality of a functioning landscape. CDFW’s account of restoration at Rancho Jamul describes years of habitat work, monitoring and cooperation—not simply placing a box underground and expecting a population to return. [5]
For a visitor, the useful lesson is practical: an apparently ordinary patch of soil can be occupied habitat. Avoid trampling entrances, placing equipment beside them or treating a quiet hole as abandoned.
Look closely without moving closer
The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge includes Burrowing Owls among its resident birds. Use the refuge’s current visitor information and designated access areas when planning a trip; an owl sighting is never guaranteed. Our Salton Sea bird-watching guide provides broader trip context. [6]
Let binoculars or a long lens close the distance. Stay on permitted roads and paths, keep clear of entrances and allow the owl an unobstructed route to shelter.
Let the bird set the limit. If it stops its normal activity because of you, back away. Never bait an owl or put a camera into its burrow.
Start with an environmental frame: owl, entrance and surrounding ground together. Then look for the long legs, spotted plumage and light eyebrow. A tight portrait reveals the bird; a wider photograph explains its home.
Explore the full Burrowing Owl photo guide for all three photographs. The related places below are broader nature destinations, not a list of active owl burrows.
Burrowing Owl questions, answered
Do Burrowing Owls dig their own burrows?
Western birds usually reuse burrows dug by other animals and can enlarge and maintain them. Digging an entire burrow is more usual in Florida and the Caribbean, and occurs occasionally in western populations.
Are Burrowing Owls active only during the day?
No. They can be active in daylight and hunt during the day or night. Daylight visibility distinguishes them from many familiar owls, but does not describe their entire activity cycle.
What do Burrowing Owls eat?
Their diet includes insects and small vertebrates. They may hunt on foot or by short flights, and sometimes store extra food.
Does an owl beside a hole mean there are eggs inside?
Not necessarily. Burrows can provide shelter as well as nesting space, and a photograph of the entrance cannot establish whether eggs or young are present.
How can I photograph a Burrowing Owl without disturbing it?
Use a long lens or binoculars, stay on permitted access routes and keep away from entrances. Back away if the bird changes its behavior because of your presence. Do not bait it or insert equipment into the burrow.
Sources, photographs & illustration notes
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Burrowing Owl Identification. Identification, proportions and measurements.
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Burrowing Owl Life History. Burrow use, maintenance, nesting and daily activity.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Burrowing Owl species profile. Habitat, behavior and conservation background.
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Burrowing Owl Overview. Dung collection, insects, food caching and viewing guidance.
- California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Saving the Burrowing Owls. May 10, 2018. A historical account of the Rancho Jamul restoration and translocation project; not a current population report.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge: Species and visitor information. Local resident birds. Check current visitor rules at the refuge’s Visit Us page.
- San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. Burrowing Owl. Underground shelter and wider life-history context.
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Visit Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge. Official trip-planning and access information.
Research checked October 20, 2026. Regional burrow-building behavior varies. No active wild nest locations are disclosed.
All three photographs are by Mark Miller and come from the Desert Oasis Insider Burrowing Owl photo guide. The third was photographed at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens on April 22, 2025. The first two images are not assigned an unverified date or precise location here. The cutaway is an original interpretive vector illustration, not a photograph or a survey of a real burrow. Its proportions, single tunnel, chamber and egg count are simplified.
