Burrowing+Owl

//** Athena cunicularia **// Hear a male burrowing owl: media type="file" key="burrowingowl.malecall"

What bird has been on earth for over sixty-four million years and lives underground? The Burrowing Owl, or //Athene cunicularia,// was first recorded by Giovanna Iganzio Molina in the 1700s and was first known as the Billy Owl. Although the burrowing owl can make its own home underground, it prefers to use abandoned prarie dog holes. The Burrowing Owl belongs to the Animal Kingdom, or Kingdom Anamalia. Organisms in the Animal Kingdom are easily identified. Organisms belonging to the Animal Kingdom are complex, multicellular organisms commonly called ‘animals’. When an organism is multicellular, it means that it has more than one cell. These organisms are also eukaryotic and have no cell walls. When an organism is eukaryotic, it means that its cell have nucleus. A cell wall is a rigid wall surrounding the cell, and it is usually found in plants. Animals consume other organisms for food, can move, and cannot photosynthesize. Photosynthesis is when organisms, such as plants, can make food from sunlight. Some animals belonging to the Animal Kingdom include birds, mammals, fish, humans, and insects. The burrowing owl is also known as the //Athena cunicularia// and is part of the Animal Kingdom. Its average length is eight to eleven inches but its wingspan is nearly double that, at twenty to twenty-four inches. The typical weight of a burrowing owl is six to eight ounces. To make a home, a burrowing owl can dig its own hole, but they prefer to use old prairie dog holes. Their diet is very wide consisting of arthropods, beetles, grasshoppers, small birds, rodents, small animals, and much more.

The burrowing owl is commonly a sandy color with a white chest and eyebrows. The female is normally darker in color than a male. They lack ear tufts, which most owls have. Another thing that sets this owl apart from others is that they flap their wings separately. This means that instead of flapping them simultaneously, they flap them alternatelay: first the right wing, and then the left. Until recently, the burrowing owl was known as the //Speotyo cunicularia.// Today, the burrowing owl lives in all of North and Central America. They live in large groups in grasslands and are active at dusk and dawn. Currently, they are not threatened. See a live feed of a burrowing owl at: http://www.birdwatchingblog.com/owl-cams/burrowing-owl-cam-in-albuquerque-nm/ By Kristen, Lena, Ben, and Andres Period six