A Rare Glimpse of the Burrowing Owl

When I knew we were coming to the FAU Preserve and there was gonna be the chance to film burrowing owls, I knew that if I army crawled as slow as I could, it was my best chance of getting close. Okay, so we've got a burrowing owl, which is another one of the species here at the FAU Preserve. He's right out there on that signpost, and this is one of the animals we hoped we'd come across tonight. I bet you never knew that there was actually an owl species that burrowed underground. And they have some very distinct features. They have these beautiful, big, yellow eyes with black centers, which is absolutely beautiful. And they've got this kind of light brown and white speckling that runs all down their back. So this is the time of night when these owls come out and start to feed. Unlike most owls, they hunt right at sunset instead of at night, and up on that perch like that, what he's probably doing is looking for mice, snakes, lizards, anything running around in the grass that he can then kind of dive bomb, get with his talons, and then take back to the burrow to eat. This owl is listed as a species of special concern here in the United States. I've got two little burrow owls watching me right now. I'm gonna try to see just a little closer. He's basically put on a little defensive posture there, and he is protecting his burrow. I'm only a few feet away, which is why I'm able to zoom in this closely. Oh, that's a great shot right there. Look at those beautiful eyes. He's just being curious. He says, okay, this is my burrow. Who are you? When I was army crawling up, I was getting so close. I mean, I was literally just a couple feet from the owls. With the little camera, I was zoomed all the way in on those heads. Oh, those eyes are just so beautiful. It's like a bright yellow marble. It's so awesome. That was a pretty cool experience getting that close to the burrowing owl. Heck yeah. If you thought that was one wild adventure, check out these other animal encounters, and don't forget, subscribe to follow me and the crew on this season of Breaking Trail.