{"id":27050,"date":"2015-08-04T04:58:46","date_gmt":"2015-08-04T10:58:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=27050"},"modified":"2025-10-14T07:03:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T12:03:57","slug":"young-burrowing-owls-in-and-near-their-burrows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/08\/04\/young-burrowing-owls-in-and-near-their-burrows\/","title":{"rendered":"Young Burrowing Owls In And Near Their Burrows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-160263 size-full\" title=\"Young Burrowing Owl peeking out of its burrow, Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269.jpg\" alt=\"Young Burrowing Owl peeking out of its burrow, Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Young Burrowing Owl peeking out of its burrow &#8211; Nikon D810, f9, 1\/2000, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The young Burrowing Owls I have been following and photographing are growing up but many of them still stay close to the burrows they hatched in.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-160268 size-full\" title=\"Young Burrowing Owl outside of its burrow in Box Elder County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224.jpg\" alt=\"Young Burrowing Owl outside of its burrow in Box Elder County, Utah\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0224.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Young Burrowing Owl outside of its burrow &#8211; Nikon D810, f9, 1\/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Not only did the burrows provide them with safety from the elements they also provide a place that the owls can escape predators from the sky. I have seen Peregrine Falcons try to take young owls and being able to go deep into the burrows would save their lives.<\/p>\n<p>They grow up so fast and before too long they will head out to over winter further south but for now many of the young owls still stay close to their burrows.<\/p>\n<p>Life<em> is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/burrowing-owl-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Burrowing Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The young Burrowing Owls I have been following and photographing are growing up but many of them still stay close to the burrows they hatched in. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":160263,"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":[1148,52,26],"tags":[55,2663,4054,4214,4067,4071,3967,294,4516,4193],"class_list":["post-27050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-burrowing-owls","category-utah","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-burrow","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-western-burrowing-owl","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-burrow-mia-mcpherson-0269.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-72i","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":98321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/20\/aba-bird-of-the-year-2022-the-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":27050,"position":0},"title":"ABA Bird Of The Year 2022 &#8211; 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 &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/burrowing-owl-immature-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-7693.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14672,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2014\/04\/02\/young-burrowing-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":27050,"position":1},"title":"Young Burrowing Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The past few years I have missed seeing and photographing young Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island State Park for numerous reasons.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl with its head cocked, causeway to Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5223.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-mia-mcpherson-5223.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5223.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-5223.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46046,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/07\/burrowing-owl-at-its-burrow-on-a-cloudy-day\/","url_meta":{"origin":27050,"position":2},"title":"Burrowing Owl At Its Burrow On A Cloudy Day","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I photographed this Burrowing Owl adult at its burrow earlier this week not too long after a huge bank of clouds moved over Antelope Island State Park.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Burrowing Owl adult at burrow on a cloudy day, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/burrowing-owl-in-burrow-mia-mcpherson-4466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/burrowing-owl-in-burrow-mia-mcpherson-4466.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/burrowing-owl-in-burrow-mia-mcpherson-4466.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/burrowing-owl-in-burrow-mia-mcpherson-4466.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46408,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/21\/side-lit-male-burrowing-owl\/","url_meta":{"origin":27050,"position":3},"title":"Side Lit Male Burrowing Owl &#8211; Early Morning Light And Wildflowers","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two mornings ago I photographed the side lit male Burrowing Owl with wildflowers in the background but with all the rain we have been having it won't be long before the vegetation completely obscures the burrow and the owls.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Side lit male Burrowing Owl in wildflowers, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.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-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-male-wildflowers-mia-mcpherson-0043.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":34929,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/01\/19\/an-adult-burrowing-owl-in-early-spring-on-antelope-island\/","url_meta":{"origin":27050,"position":4},"title":"An adult Burrowing Owl in early spring on Antelope Island","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Among those spring migrants that I most look forward to seeing are the Western Burrowing Owls.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"An adult Burrowing Owl in early spring next to it burrow on Antelope Island State Park, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-spring-mia-mcpherson-1100.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-spring-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-spring-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-spring-mia-mcpherson-1100.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45285,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/03\/01\/my-burrowing-owl-fascination\/","url_meta":{"origin":27050,"position":5},"title":"My Burrowing Owl Fascination &#8211; It Never Ends","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm drawn to and fascinated by these western desert Burrowing Owls because they are beautiful, interesting and animated subjects. And they are pretty darn cute!","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two juvenile Burrowing Owls in early morning, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-8541.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-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-8541.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-8541.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juveniles-mia-mcpherson-8541.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}