{"id":25556,"date":"2015-06-19T05:54:23","date_gmt":"2015-06-19T11:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=25556"},"modified":"2025-10-13T10:53:35","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T15:53:35","slug":"sibling-burrowing-owls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/06\/19\/sibling-burrowing-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"Sibling Burrowing Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SiblingSibling Burrowing Owls – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday while wandering around in northern Utah I spotted an adult and then 5 sibling Burrowing Owls also showed up to perch on an old fence line.<\/p>\n

The owla were adorable but the sun was already high in the sky so I wasn’t happy with many of the images due to the contrasty light and dark shadows but I thought I would share an image with two of the owlets in it.<\/p>\n

Burrowing Owl populations are on the decline<\/span><\/a> in the west because of habitat destruction with a subsequent increase in mammalian predation.<\/p>\n

Maybe we can reduce the decline in their population if we stop building near their habitat, stop killing the prairie dogs, and stop using pesticides and rodenticides.\u00a0 Maybe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Burrowing Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday while wandering around in northern Utah I spotted an adult and then 5 sibling Burrowing Owls also showed up to perch on an old fence line.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,52,26],"tags":[55,4430,4021,4214,3831,4098,3830,898,56,3967,3828,294,11852,3829,165,4516,8917],"class_list":["post-25556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-burrowing-owls","category-utah","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-barbed-wire","tag-bird-photography","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-declining-populations","tag-desert","tag-fence","tag-fence-post","tag-juveniles-2","tag-owl","tag-owlets","tag-owls","tag-ranchlands","tag-siblings","tag-spring","tag-western-burrowing-owl","tag-wooden-post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-owlets-mia-mcpherson-7807.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-6Ec","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40769,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/08\/03\/fifteen-minutes-with-sibling-burrowing-owl-juveniles\/","url_meta":{"origin":25556,"position":0},"title":"Fifteen Minutes With Sibling Burrowing Owl Juveniles","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 3, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I spent fifteen minutes with sibling Burrowing Owl juveniles in northern Utah not long after the sun came up and while there was still golden light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Burrowing Owl juvenile lift off from an old fence post, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-lift-off-western-mia-mcpherson-7479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-lift-off-western-mia-mcpherson-7479.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-lift-off-western-mia-mcpherson-7479.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-lift-off-western-mia-mcpherson-7479.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":35067,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/22\/winter-burrowing-owls-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":25556,"position":1},"title":"Winter Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It was the first of the winter Burrowing Owls I was to find yesterday while on Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owls-juvenile-balance-mia-mcpherson-8914.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owls-juvenile-balance-mia-mcpherson-8914.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owls-juvenile-balance-mia-mcpherson-8914.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owls-juvenile-balance-mia-mcpherson-8914.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":98321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/20\/aba-bird-of-the-year-2022-the-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":25556,"position":3},"title":"ABA Bird Of The Year 2022 – The Burrowing Owl!","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It was announced yesterday that the Burrowing Owl is the 2022 ABA Bird of the Year! Burrowing Owls are small, long-legged, sandy-colored, charismatic owls with bright yellow eyes.","rel":"","context":"In "Antelope Island State Park"","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Burrowing Owl on a stump in soft morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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