BURROWING OWL LIVE CAM
| Location: Broward County, FL | Project: Broward Burrowing Owl |
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Q: I cannot see any owls. Where are they?
A: Burrowing Owls are diurnal and nocturnal, meaning they are active during the day and night. However, they do spend quite a bit of time in their burrow. Mostly the male stands guard at the entrance and the female spends more time below. But sometimes they will both be in the burrow, especially when disturbed. Wait and watch or check back often and you'll be sure to see them!
Q: What is that yellow post in the foreground?
A: The yellow post is actually a T-shaped perch that the owls can use for increased elevation to survey their surroundings.
Q: What is the best time to see them?
A: Burrowing Owls are most active at dawn and dusk so mornings and late afternoons are the best time to view them. But they will appear at any time of the day so keep watching!
Q: Why is there a fence around the owls and why are they so close to the road?
A: The fence protects the owls from disturbance and their burrow is in an irrigation swale on the school property. They need to nest in areas above the flood level and the area closest to the road is most suitable for them. Sometimes you might see people walking past. The owls are accustomed to the presence of people.
Q: When do they breed?
A: Typically burrowing Owls breed in the winter from January to March but these owls have been known to breed throughout the year and raise multiple broods.
ABOUT BURROWING OWLS
Appearance:
The burrowing owl is a pint-sized bird that lives in open, treeless areas.
The burrowing owl spends most of its time on the ground, where its sandy brown
plumage provides camouflage from potential predators. One of Florida's smallest
owls, it averages nine inches in height with a wingspan of 21 inches. The
burrowing owl lacks the ear tufts of the more familiar woodland owls. Bright
yellow eyes and a white chin accent the face. Unusually long legs provide
additional height for a better view from its typical ground-level perch.
Habitat:
The Florida burrowing owl occurs throughout the state although its distribution is considered local and spotty. The presence of burrowing owls is primarily dependent upon habitat. Humans have created new habitat for burrowing owls by clearing forests and draining wetlands. Burrowing owls inhabit open native prairies and cleared areas that offer short groundcover including pastures, agricultural fields, golf courses, airports, and vacant lots in residential areas. Historically, the burrowing owl occupied the prairies of central Florida. Recently, these populations have decreased because of disappearing habitat while populations in south Florida coastal areas have increased due to modification of habitat by humans.
Burrowing owls live as single breeding pairs or in loose colonies consisting of two or more families. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are active during both day and night. During the day, they are usually seen standing erect at the mouth of the burrow or on a nearby post. When disturbed, the owl bobs in agitation and utters a chattering or clucking call. In flight, burrowing owls typically undulate as if they are flying an invisible obstacle course. They also can hover in midair, a technique effective for capturing food.
Burrowing owls use burrows year-round; for roosting during the winter and for raising young during the breeding season (Feb - July). Florida's owls typically dig their own burrows but will use gopher tortoise or armadillo burrows. Burrows extend 4 to 8 feet underground and are lined with materials such as grass clippings, feathers, paper, and manure.
Behavior:
Burrowing owls mainly eat insects, especially grasshoppers and beetles.
They can be of special benefit in urban settings since they also consume roaches
and mole crickets. Other important foods are small lizards, frogs, snakes,
birds, and rodents.
Eggs are primarily laid in March but nesting can occur from October through May. The female lays six to eight eggs over a one-week period. She will incubate the eggs for 21 to 28 days. At hatching, the young owls are covered with white downy feathers and have their eyes closed. They emerge from the burrow when they are 2 weeks old. At 4 weeks, they are learning to fly but cannot fly well until 6 weeks old. They remain with their parents until they are 12 weeks old.
The Florida burrowing owl is classified as a "species of special concern" by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. This means burrows, owls, and their eggs are protected from harassment and/or disturbance by state law. Burrowing owls are also protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation commission
Burrowing Owls History in Florida
Broward County has one of the highest densities of Burrowing Owls in Florida and it also has a very high human population density. Not surprisingly, these factors bring Burrowing Owls into close contact with humans across the county. The Florida sub-species of Burrowing Owl is now classified as a threatened species in Florida and it is one of the rarest sub-species of Burrowing Owls. Loss of habitat due to development, disturbance at burrows and negative interactions with humans are some of the threats facing this charismatic species.
A staggering 55 Broward County Public schools have Burrowing Owls on their properties. Through various education initiatives and with help from Project Perch many of the schools now protect their owls by providing suitable habitat and burrows. The owls return the favor by providing the students and teachers with a rare glimpse into the natural history of these fascinating birds.
Burrowing Owls have been present at our school camera location since at least 1984. For most of this time the school had 1 to 2 pairs of owls nesting on athletic fields. At one point they tried to burrow in the sand for the long jump pit. For a long time they were in an area between the classrooms. The pair in this area did very well and over time they became year round residents that were known to produce more than one brood in a year. During occasional cold weather they would perch on top of a light box under the overhang of one of the classroom buildings. A school expansion project was started that would use the space where the owls had burrowed and a permit to remove the burrow was applied for by the school district.
The teachers and students were very interested in relocating the owls to a safer place and began a project that would create new “artificial burrows” for the owls. Artificial burrows take the permit mitigation process further by not just clearing the grass but actually digging a starter burrow for the owls and installing a 3 foot tunnel made out of modified 6” PVC pipe. Within a week of being installed the owls were at one of the burrows! Since the artificial burrows have been installed owls have not nested on the athletic fields or anywhere else on school grounds except where the artificial burrows are located. Since the installation of artificial burrows the colony has grown supporting up to 3 pairs of owls, all breeding at once! The owls from the old burrow area near the classrooms continue to raise multiple broods and 2 other pairs have moved in. The owls have dug a new natural burrow near one of the artificial burrows. The colony has numbered 17 at one point and fledged as many as 9 owlets during the normal breeding season.The owl couple on the live camera feed is the youngest breeding pair in the colony and are a little over a year old. Although you cannot see it they are using one of the artificial burrows. They have recently lost the last of their juvenile fluff and it looks like they may be getting down to the serious business of raising a family! Several weeks ago, this pair was seen mating and they have spent more time feeding and spending most of their time close to home. The male seems to be nervously guarding the burrow like an expectant father. Is the female feeding heavily to lay eggs or are there owlets down there that they are already busy feeding? Join us as we track their progress!
NO CLIPS AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME
Project Perch's BuOw Blog 13 Wednesday, March 5, 2014
How Long Until We See Owlets?
For the second time, we tried to predict when we would see owlets. Right around November 1st we stopped seeing the female as she was down in the burrow almost all of the time so we thought she must have started laying eggs. We added 30 days as the estimate for the incubation period and another 40 days as the estimate for the nestling period. 1 We expected owlets by early January, but in early January there were no owlets. Female burrowing owls lay an egg every 36 hours, lay between 3-11 eggs and may wait to start incubating eggs until after the first 4-6 eggs are laid.2 So we added another 8 days, 2 days each for 4 eggs and then thought we would see owlets in mid-January.
We also saw some very strange bird droppings in mid-December. See BuOw Blog 12 for pictures and a description. We thought the bird droppings might be indicative of the female egg laying but that wasn't documented in any of the previous studies. The droppings were seen a full month after the female moved into the burrow and if they were an accurate indicator, it meant we would not see owlets until early February not January.
In late December, the male started delivering food to the burrow. We thought they must have nestlings down there, but the time passed and no owlets emerged. Where were the owlets? Millsap and Bears' "observations indicate that females at successful nests gain so much weight prior to egg laying that some are unable to fly for several days prior to clutch deposition." 1 They go on to say "that during this time and throughout the laying period, females seldom leave the nest burrow and are probably totally dependent upon the male for food and nest protection."1 So the male was feeding the female in December and not nestlings.
In late January, it felt like there just wasn't enough feeding going on and we feared the owlets had been lost in a heavy rain on January 10. Then the teacher was watching video of the father's fast early morning burrow dives. She discovered that he was flying straight into the burrow with prey. She had a blurry picture of him flying in with a rat in his talons. We were so relieved that the owlets must still be down there.
Dr. Mealey told us to look for when the female appears, she would be much darker than the male due to no sun bleaching, but in our case the female is lighter than the male, unusual but just individual variation.3 Dr. Mealey also wrote us that usually about 10 days after the female emerges, we should start seeing some chicks.3 We wrote him back that we always saw our female. Even when incubating, the female came out for bathroom breaks and to stretch at dawn and/or dusk. She just was never out for long. Dr. Mealey wrote "The cam gives an entirely new perspective on females. In field studies we rarely see incubating females since we are at the site less than 10 minutes."3 He asked us to watch for an exchange in incubation duties between the male and female, but we rarely saw the female for very long, so she was doing most of the incubating.3
How Many Owlets?
So I guessed two owlets on January 14. The teacher at the school said she would be thrilled with two owlets on Januray 12 and then recalibrated to January 21. We had talked about the June nest lost to flooding and that this was a re-nest. Another volunteer guessed four owlets but said no idea on the date. Dr. Mealey wrote us the maximum number of owlets he had seen in south Florida was six.3 January came and went. Then on February 5th we saw two tiny fluffy heads in the burrow. On February 7th another tiny head bobbed up out of the burrow and on February 9th a white baby was seen, so four owlets. By February 13th there was a new little gray baby and now we had seen 5.
Owlets versus Fledges
The term owlet is a specialized term for a young owl. It refers to a recently hatched bird that has not developed its mature plumage and has not fledged and so is still dependent on its parents.4 Young owls have white natal down and lack distinct markings, but their facial disks are some of the first plumage features to develop.4 A burrowing owlet is fledged when, if approached, it flies away rather than retreating into the burrow. 1
Nestling Development – The First 30 Days
The Playpen – Mother owl excavated an area out at the burrow's entrance where all of the babies could hang out in the fresh air, but where they would still be very safe. They could barely be seen by predators and could be pushed down into the safety of the burrow easily.
Culinary School:
Begging and Chirping – It was hard to tell if they were begging or chirping sometimes, but they were often doing one or the other. Both behaviors seemed to indicate a desire to be fed. Most feeding occurred in the burrow, but we did see the mother owl feeding the babies a couple of times.
Live Prey – We saw father owl deliver live prey to the owlets on 2 occasions. He gave them a live lizard and a grasshopper to practice with. He may have also been flying live prey in with his overnight and early morning deliveries.
Bugging – Very early on the owlets could catch bugs right at the burrow's entrance. The parents were cultivating a bug garden with all of the poop and animal debris left there, so there were a lot of bugs for the owlets to catch and eat while still safe at the burrow's entrance.
The Rocking Chair – That is what we called it when the owlets sat with their legs out in front of them and using their wings to balance. They would pick at the grass and eat bugs. They would lean forward to grab the bug out of their talon and wobble backwards, rocking back and forth. Their legs were weak and they needed to rest them often.
Flight School:
Natal Down and Flight Feathers: The babies look all white with their natal down to start. The first three owlets had already lost their natal down and were looking brown and fluffy by the time they emerged from the burrow. The fourth owlet was all white when we saw him and the fifth one appeared gray as the brown feathers came in.
Flapping, Hopping and Wing Stretching – All of the precursors to flying. They were testing their wings from the very start and trying to get some air. They stretched their wings above their head in a W shape and in the beginning the wings were so short, but they get longer every day. Within a week we saw owlets hopping and stretching and within two weeks their flight feathers were growing in.
Longer Hops and Short Flights – The owlets flapped their wings frantically as they gain a little more air each time. The cam's view is very small and within two weeks, the owlets were hopping and flapping out of sight. We did see some good hovering and landing on the big stick father owl positioned right at the burrow's entrance and we thought maybe he did that to help the owlet learn practice perching and landing. In the first month, we did not see any official take offs or landings and never saw the owlets perched anywhere but near the burrow.
Head Bobbing: The owlets would stare at objects and move their heads around, up and down and around in a circle. We even saw their heads go upside down sometimes.
Parallaxing – Parallaxing in owls is the vertical head bobbing motion. One of the definitions I found the easiest to understand was by Ron Dudley at Featheredphotography.5
"It is the effect where the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions. When an observer moves, the apparent relative motion of several stationary objects against a background gives hints about their relative distance which the brain can interpret to provide absolute depth perception…. this can be very helpful to birds for flight and for judging prey position. The movement required comes automatically during flight but it can also be provided while perched by exaggerated movement of the head..." 5
Nearby objects have a larger parallax than those further away. Astronomers use the parallax principle to determine distances to the moon, sun and the stars.
Stereo Vision – Sometimes the head is rotated or moved in all three dimensions. In Featheredphotography, Ken Britten provides two other possibilities for these specific types of head movement.5
"One is that the owl is getting stereo vision from different features in the image. Since "normal" stereo vision rests on the horizontal disparity of image features, it is best informed by vertical contours in the image. A horizontal feature is useless. By rotating its head, the owl might be getting depth for these features. Stereo vision only works for fairly near objects…probably out to about 15-20 feet or so."5
Hearing – Tipping the head and moving it around may sometimes be related to hearing and not seeing. Ken Britten also provides this explanation in Featheredphotography5:
"Owls are superb at sound localization, and horizontal acuity is better than vertical… by turning its head sideways, it is using its hearing to better define your vertical position. Naturally, none of these ideas are exclusive of each other – the owl might be doing all of this at once." 5
There are several very serious reasons why owlets do this, but when they actually do it, they look silly and are cute and funny. It is these behaviors that make the burrowing owlets so endearing to everyone and there are hundreds of pictures and videos showing them do this. Some of the best pictures and discussion we have seen on this was at Featheredphotography.com and here is the link:
http://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2013/02/09/juvenile-burrowing-owl-parallaxing/
Sleeping, Sunbathing and Anting:
Sleeping – Thebabies would rest or sleep at the burrow's entrance, usually in the sunshine.
Sunbathing – We hadn't seen any sleeping in awhile and then one warm day the owlet lay down for 9 minutes straight, even laying its head down. We all worried it was hurt, but as we watched the owlet seemed to snack on some small bugs, stretch its legs out and then got up. Everyone worried the owlet was weak and maybe sick. We e-mailed Dr. Mealey. He responded, "Simply relaxed and resting. It's a very normal behavior for young and I've seen adults/young do it especially while sunbathing. They simply lay chest down and spread their wings to maximize exposure." 3 The owlet never spread it wings this time, so maybe that was some of our confusion.
Anting – Dr. Mealey also wrote; "This behavior is also coupled with "anting", which allows ants/formic acid to clean their feathers from parasites." 3 We did see the owlet snacking on some small bugs, which could have been ants. The owlet was taking a bug bath as opposed to a dirt bath or maybe both. We wrote Dr. Mealey back to see if "anting" was an official term and he wrote back that it was."3 So we looked it up:
"The purpose of it is not well understood, but the most reasonable assumption seems to be that it is a way of acquiring the defensive secretions of ants primarily for their insecticidal, miticidal, fungicidal, or bactericidal properties and, perhaps secondarily, as a supplement to the bird's own preen oil. The former explanation is reinforced by a growing body of evidence on the biocidal properties of ant secretions and by an observation of a jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus) actively "anting" with a millipede, whose potent defensive secretions (evolved to fend off the millipede's enemies) could be smelled from 15 feet away. Likewise, the observed correlation of anting activity with high humidity might be explained by the documented fungicidal properties of ant secretions. Because the seasonal timing of anting and molting (spring and summer) often correspond, some have suggested that anting may soothe the skin during feather replacement. It seems more likely that the seasonal relationship simply reflects the greater activity of ants during those periods.6
Anting also may make the ants edible by removing the acid from them and we did see the owlet eating.6 We were so relieved it was normal behavior and just a buggy baby trying to get rid of some itchy parasites.
Sources:
1 Millsap, Brian and Cindy Bear. June, 1990. Double-Brooding by Florida Burrowing Owls. The Wilson Bulletin, Vol 102, No 2, pp. 313-317.
2http://www.burrowingowlbc.org/captive_breeding_eggs_and_hatching.htm
3 Mealey, Brian. 2014. Personal Communication.
4 http://birding.about.com/od/Bird-Glossary-N-O/g/Owlet.htm
5http://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2013/02/09/juvenile-burrowing-owl-parallaxing/
6 http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Anting.html
ARCHIVES
- Black, Speckled and Brown Eyed Owls
When I first started learning about burrowing owls, Dr. Mealey, our local burrowing owl expert, told me about dark eyed owls. He suggested that I go to Brian Piccolo Park and look for an adult owl with black eyes so I could see one first hand but when I went there I couldn’t find that owl. - Nesting Behaviors for These Owls
As we watched the owls begin nesting for the second time, we kept a list of all of the nesting behaviors that we learned to look for and recognize. We also documented some very strange owl droppings. - The Fire Ants Arrive
Sunday September 22, the text came in, “Dirt in foreground. Ants? Too far from burrow for owls.” The grass was long and there was some extra dirt in the foreground, but on camera it was hard to see. It was even harder to tell that the extra dirt was ant mounds. - The Coop Arrives
Later that week, the owls seemed nervous, checking skyward all the time. They would retreat into the burrow and stay there. We thought they were worried about an aerial predator, but on June 26 we would learn just how real their concern was. - Dispersal: Where do the owls go?
Even before Tropical Storm Andrea, the burrowing owls had started to disappear. We were not at all surprised; they were always scarce in August. We knew the owls dispersed after nesting. We had been telling the students that owls dispersed once their young were fledged, because they could. - Burrowing Owl Colonies
Burrowing owls are considered colonial nesters. In the 1890s, colonies of 200 to 300 Burrowing owls were described on the Kissimmee Prairie. Here are some of the first descriptions of the Florida burrowing owls published by the Smithsonian in the Bent Life Series: - Behaviors, Activity Patterns and Time Budgets of Burrowing Owls
When we first started watching the owls in April, their behavior seemed “normal” to us and what we expected. By mid-May, we could not believe the amount of food the male was bringing back to the burrow. - Do the Owls Have Eggs or Owlets?
This is the question we have been getting the most. So we’ll tell you everything we know. - Project Perch's Artificial Burrow Design
The artificial burrow design that we use, comes from Dr. Mealey; he is locally known as the Burrowing owl expert as he consulted on the movie Hoot. He has been our technical consultant at Project Perch for years and generously donates 2 out of every 3 hours he works for the schools. - Tropical Storm Andrea and Flooding Burrows
On June 7, a little after lunch the rain really started falling; it was the rain bands from Tropical Storm Andrea. Around 3pm, I was on the phone with one of our partners and we were watching together. It really looked miserable out there and it just didn’t stop. - Nest Decoration
On May 20, 2013 there was a small dark pile of something to the right of the burrow entrance. We wanted to know if it was a pile of “dung”. We were all ready to write about “dung décor”. - How to Sex the Owls
In the past, we have had to rely on the observations of whoever seemed to know the most about the owls at their location, which usually did not include which one was the male or female and was not based on a lot of observation time in the field. - School Yard Burrowing Owls
A lot of people were viewing the burrowing owls for the first time today. This generated a lot of questions! Some of us have been lucky enough to watch them for a little while as we worked through some technical issues. So I’ll start with some of the basics about “School Yard Burrowing Owls”.
What You Can Do To Help
Install T-perches near owl burrows. Perches provide burrowing owls with an elevated view of the nest area, and also make the burrows more visible to mowing machine operators. Many burrows collapse each year when mower tires pass near the burrow entrance. If you put up perches, be sure that you keep the grass and weeds trimmed low around the burrow to give the owls the unobstructed view that they need to avoid predators.
Restrict use of pesticides. Because burrowing owls feed on insects that are considered pests around homes, they are exposed to the insecticides you use. Pesticides decrease and possibly contaminate food available to owls. Explore options other than using pesticides, but if you continue to use them, please do so with caution.
Attracting owls to your lawn. Burrowing owls may dig burrows in sodded yards if vacant lots are scarce. To attract a pair, remove a 1-2 foot circular plug of sod from the lawn. This exposes the sandy soil needed by the owls for burrowing. You might also start the burrow and place a pile of loose sand near the mouth.
Placing a T-perch near the burrow can help draw it to a pair's attention.
Report malicious destruction or harassment of burrowing owls or their nests.
1-888-404-FWCC (3922).
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Burrowing Owl Coloring Pages
Please click here and here for printable Burrowing Owl coloring-in pages.
Burrowing Owls: Superheroes of the Bird World and Our Environment
Learn about Burrowing Owls, their special adaptations and the
role they play in our Florida environment with our interactive presentation. After the children have seen
the presentation, they can make paperplate owl masks and view the live feed.
Supplies needed for the craft are a paperplate and a tongue depressor
for each student and tape and crayons. The presentation should take
about 10-15 minutes and the craft is about the same. Click here for the presentation.
We will be developing this page as a useful resource for kids and teachers. Check back often for updates.
Welcome to our Burrowing Owl Wall of Fame!
Send your pics of the cam to info@birdingadventures.com and they may just end up on this Wall of Fame. You can take pictures of the cam using the Grab tool on your Mac or by taking a screen shot on your PC. Key moments and interesting behavior will be featured here!
 Owls in Rain - April 30, 2013
The owls love the rain. Here they can be seen enjoying the respite from the Florida heat!
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 Owl with frog - April 30, 2013
Burrowing Owls feed mainly on insects but they will take lizards, rodents and even frogs.
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 Owls after the rain - April 30, 2013
The owls love the rain. Here they can be seen enjoying the respite from the Florida heat!
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Broward Burrowing Owl PROJECT GALLERY
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