{"id":4744,"date":"2012-04-06T05:43:50","date_gmt":"2012-04-06T11:43:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=4744"},"modified":"2025-10-12T18:41:29","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T23:41:29","slug":"burrowing-owls-friday-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/04\/06\/burrowing-owls-friday-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Burrowing Owls – Friday Photos"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve selected a few Burrowing Owl images taken a few years ago to post today.<\/p>\n

\"MorningMorning Burrowing Owl juvenile – Nikon D200, f8, 1\/400, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

This juvenile Burrowing Owl posed very nicely in the light of the rising sun on the causeway to Antelope Island State Park. I love those bright yellow eyes and the long rictal bristles surrounding the curved beak.<\/p>\n

\"BurrowingBurrowing Owl adult near mudflats of the Great Salt Lake – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1\/400, ISO 200, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Adult western Burrowing Owl males have paler plumage than the juveniles, lighter barring on the chest, and always seem to me to be more serious looking than the juveniles who can at times appear to be quite clownish.<\/p>\n

I’ve heard them called the “Clowns of the western deserts”.<\/p>\n

\"PeekabooPeekaboo Burrowing Owl fledgling – Nikon D200, f8, 1\/250, ISO 200, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

There used to be a burrow on Antelope Island State Park where Burrowing Owls could be seen and photographed \u00a0frequently from the road but that appears to be no longer the case.<\/p>\n

Last year there was an incident involving a few photographers walking on top of the burrow that may have caused the burrow to be abandoned, or worse; they may have crushed the burrow while walking on it and killed an adult that may have been inside.<\/p>\n

After that incident I only ever saw one adult owl near it and it seemed in distress for several weeks as it sounded frequent alarm calls from the tops of sagebrush near the burrow.<\/p>\n

More about that incident can be read here<\/span><\/a> and here<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

It is my\u00a0dream to find more Burrowing Owls to photograph this year. They are\u00a0beautiful, interesting and entertaining owls to observe and photograph.<\/p>\n

Life is good.<\/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

\"Save<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve selected a few Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) images taken a few years ago to post today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159982,"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":[511,52,26],"tags":[4004,58,55,4021,4083,4214,11978,4141,4067,4071,519,3967,294,2315,30,4032],"class_list":["post-4744","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island-state-park","category-burrowing-owls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-antelope-island-sp","tag-athene-cunicularia","tag-bird-photography","tag-birding","tag-burrowing-owl","tag-desert-island","tag-fledgling","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-nature","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-summer-3","tag-utah-2","tag-wildlife-photography"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-adult-mia-mcpherson-0343.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-1ew","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4029,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/01\/17\/juvenile-burrowing-owl-portrait\/","url_meta":{"origin":4744,"position":0},"title":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl Portrait","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Burrowing Owls are beautiful birds with lemony yellow eyes, downy soft feathers and subtle coloration. It's hard to believe that they aren't that much different in size from an American Robin.","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":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl portrait, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0395.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-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0395.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-portrait-mia-mcpherson-0395.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1441,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2010\/11\/23\/adult-burrowing-owls\/","url_meta":{"origin":4744,"position":1},"title":"Adult Burrowing Owls","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I felt it was time to put the beauty of the adult Burrowing Owls in the limelight.","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":"Adult western Burrowing Owl in morning light, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.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-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-mia-mcpherson-adult-0411.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9781,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/10\/11\/juvenile-burrowing-owl-in-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":4744,"position":2},"title":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl In Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Burrowing Owls are iconic birds of Antelope Island State Park, I can't tell you how many times people write to me and ask \"Where can I see Burrowing Owls on Antelope Island State Park?\".","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":"Burrowing Owl juvenile on a July morning, 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-chick-mia-mcpherson-0585.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-chick-mia-mcpherson-0585.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-chick-mia-mcpherson-0585.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7891,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/03\/19\/burrowing-owls-draw-me-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":4744,"position":3},"title":"Burrowing Owls Draw Me In","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I spotted my first Burrowing Owl of the year, it was a distance away and I didn't take any images of it but I had to do a wiggle dance in my seat because I was excited seeing one again.","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":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-0579.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-rock-mia-mcpherson-0579.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-rock-mia-mcpherson-0579.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3761,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2011\/11\/25\/juvenile-burrowing-owls-friday-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":4744,"position":4},"title":"Juvenile Burrowing Owls – Friday Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 25, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I adore Burrowing Owls, especially the juveniles because they can be funny, serious looking, comical and at times they act like clowns.","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":"Juvenile Burrowing Owl stretching, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvie-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0600.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-juvie-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvie-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/burrowing-owl-juvie-stretch-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":26703,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/07\/14\/juvenile-burrowing-owls-do-change-their-spots\/","url_meta":{"origin":4744,"position":5},"title":"Juvenile Burrowing Owls Do Change Their Spots","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Leopards don't change their spots but juvenile Burrowing Owls do change their spots on their chests as they mature.","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":"Young Burrowing Owl fluttering on a fence, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-8906.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-8906.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-8906.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/burrowing-owl-juvenile-perched-mia-mcpherson-8906.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\/4744","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=4744"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4744\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4744"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4744"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4744"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}