Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)

This is a common owl species in the Pantanal, and I suspect every farm has at least one breeding pair. This couple was tending to 3 juveniles, so the food seems plentiful here. Of course the location of their burrow is an important factor, as it’s right in the middle of a cross roads of fence posts!

Here you can see all the dirt coming off as it’s flapping its wings and ruffling its feathers. It is after all a burrowing owl, and the ground here is super fine sand and dust, brought here by aeons of annual floods!

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia)
Ready to fly any day now!

It sounds like this:


Last updated on 7 December 2020