Margie and interested others, I checked *Birds of North America *online which said that although Burrowing Owls eat mostly invertebrates, they also eat Scorpions, beetles, locusts, small rodents, and meadow voles. They add: "Birds (particularly Horned Larks, *Eremophila alpestris*), frogs, toads, lizards, snakes, turtles, and crustaceans also recorded."
The eminent ornithologist Paul Johnsgard in his book *North American Owls: Biology and Natural History* notes that Burrowing Owls take bird "species occasionally weighing almost as much as the owls themselves, such as adult mourning doves. . . ." He also notes that a "wide array" of mammals have been identified in their pellets "including mice, rats, ground squirrels, gophers, chipmunks, shrews, young prairie dogs, cottontails, and even bats. . ." I was surprised to read that have found young prairie dogs in their pellets--it would seem inhospitable to share quarters with prairie dogs then eat their young. SeEtta Moss Canon City http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com On Mon, Jul 20, 2009 at 11:17 AM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > > Hi everyone, > > Saw an interesting thing this morning -- for a couple of months I've been > keeping an eye on a couple of families of Burrowing Owls in Lake Pueblo > State Park. They hang out quite near the road and are not spooked by cars, > so are easy -- and fun -- to watch. > > Went by this morning to check on them and noticed one of the youngsters > pulling at something as if eating it. A closer look showed that it had a > medium-sized snake -- a very dead one, as it wasn't moving at all -- and was > pulling bits from the end that used to be the head while two of its siblings > watched. Looked like hard work to get a few bites. > > After about ten minutes, the young owl picked the snake up in one foot, > hopped one-legged with it to a prairie dog burrow about 3 feet away, and > carried it down into the hole. I don't know what kind of snake it was -- it > was not strongly patterned, fairly dark grayish-olive on the top and paler > on the bottom, and maybe three feet long (what was left of it). > > Checking in a couple of books after I got home showed Burrowing Owl diet > consist of insects, rodents and lizards, but no mention of snakes. Anyone > know how much of their diet might be snakes? > > This was my third snake encounter of the morning, not counting the large > recently-shed snakeskin (likely a bullsnake) in the back yard. > > Other things seen near the reservoir -- several Lark Sparrows singing their > wonderful songs, and an Osprey fishing at West Fishermen's Point who finally > caught a small fish and flew away with it. > > Cheers, > Margie Joy, who likes snakes just fine > Pueblo West, CO > > > Marjorie Joy > Words & Images > Back-of-the-Book Indexing > Fine Art & Illustration > http://www.flickr.com/photos/59865...@n00/ > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
