ANATOMY OF BIRDS
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
MIGRATIONS OF BIRDS
CLASSIFICATION OF BIRDS
LIZARD-TAILED BIRD
AMERICAN TOOTHED-BIRDS
THE OSTRICHES
THE RHEAS
EMEUS AND CASSOWARIES
THE TINAMOUS
THE KIWIS
THE PENGUINS
LOONS AND GREBES
ALBATROSSES & PETRELS
STORK-LIKE BIRDS
GOOSE-LIKE BIRDS
FALCON-LIKE BIRDS
FOWL-LIKE BIRDS
CRANE-LIKE BIRDS
PLOVER-LIKE BIRDS
CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
SPARROW-LIKE BIRDS
Birds and Birding's Guide to:
Watching THE ROLLER-LIKE BIRDS
THE ROLLERS AND THEIR ALLIES
THE OWLS
Burrowing Owl habitat
Formerly considered as identical with the South American species, the western North American bird is now regarded as constituting a well-marked geographical race (S. c. hypogcea). Shunning the timbered and mountainous portions of this area, they confine themselves to the open prairie and broken lands, where they may almost always be found in and about the prairie-dog towns, or where this animal is absent, they select the burrows of the badger or the various species of ground squirrels. The bird found in Florida, however, appears to excavate its own burrow, while the other may occasionally do so.
From the fact that they are so often found about the prairie-dog towns, the idea has gained wide acceptance that they live in these places in harmony with the dogs and attendant rattlesnakes. On this point Major Bendire says: “A good deal of nonsense has found its way into print about the life history of this Owl, and the sentimental story of its living in perfect harmony with prairie dogs and rattlesnakes, both of which inhabit a considerable portion of the range occupied by these Owls, was for years accepted as quite true. From an extended acquaintance with the habits of the Burrowing Owl, lasting through a number of years' service in the west, I can positively assert, from personal experience and investigation, that there is no foundation based on actual facts for these stories, and that no such happy families exist in reality. I am fully convinced that the Burrowing Owl, small as it is, is more than a match for the average prairie dog, and the rattlesnake as well; it is by no means the peaceful and spiritless bird it is generally believed to be, and it subsists, to some extent at least, on the young dogs, if not also on the old ones."
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