Family: Strigidae, Owls view all from this family

Description 9" (23 cm). A robin-sized terrestrial owl, short-tailed and long-legged. Yellow eyes; no ear tufts; face framed in white, with blackish collar.

Habitat Plains, deserts, fields, and airports.

Nesting 7-10 white eggs in a long underground burrow lined with grasses, roots, and dung.

Range Breeds from Canada’s southern prairie provinces south throughout western United States to southern California and Texas. Winters in southwestern states. Resident in central and southern Florida. Also in tropical America.

Voice   Liquid cackling; also a mellow coo-coooo, repeated twice.

Discussion This comical little bird is one of the most diurnal of all owls. It often perches near its hole; when approached too closely, it will bob up and down and finally dive into its burrow rather than take flight. It usually claims burrows that have been abandoned by prairie dogs or pocket gophers but is quite capable of digging its own.