Bird of the Day: Burrowing Owl

Burrowing Owl, Athene cunicularia

Burrowing Owls have, in my opinion, the greatest range of facial expressions you could ask for. I love how one owl can look like a space case while another looks like it needs coffee asap. It is amazing how such tiny owls (only 9 inches in height) can have such big expressions!

Unlike most owls, Burrowing Owls are diurnal. They make their nests in abandoned burrows dug by other animals, especially prairie dogs. Burrowing Owls are very comfortable on the ground; in fact, they more often run and flatten themselves against the ground than fly to escape enemies.

When we got to Badlands National Park in mid-July, we found prairie dogs everywhere. They were so numerous that their burrows went right up to the road, and we could see how unbelievably adorable they are up close. I was delighted to see young, cream colored prairie dog pups alongside the older rusty ones. After squealing over the prairie dogs for a good while, we turned our attention to the fields beyond them, looking for Burrowing Owls amongst the burrows.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Cynomys ludovicianus

I had seen a single Burrowing Owl back in September 2016 in the fields just beyond Robert’s Prairie Dog Town. We were disappointed when we did not find any in this section, but kept driving forward figuring we would continue to look until we reached the park boundary. To our delight, just as we reached the intersection where the road veered north to head to Wall, a herd of bison began cresting the hill on the side of the road. There were dozens of them. Male bulls harassed females who were more interested in watching their young red calves; the young calves were often more interested in playing with each other. We followed the bison at a safe distance, and were suddenly flabbergasted when Burrowing Owl after Burrowing Owl appeared as if out of nowhere and began flying through the fields about thirty feet from us. Western Meadowlarks, Horned Larks, and prairie dogs were also running through the grasses ahead of the bison. It dawned on me that the march of the bison was disturbing the Burrowing Owls and causing them to flush! The whole spectacle felt like the North American edition of the opening to Disney’s The Lion King. It was truly breathtaking and spectacular.

Mother and calf

Bull Bison, Bison bison

Two younger bison playing

After the bison had passed, we went back to look for the owls more closely. They are so well camouflaged against the brown and golden grasses of the Badlands that we almost missed them again- until we noticed an adult Burrowing Owl diving into the grass with food. Unbelievably, we found a series of burrows about fifteen feet from the side of the road, complete with two young Burrowing Owl fledglings. They were old enough to fly, but still apparently young enough to beg for food from the parents. The younger birds were much less spotted than the adults, and still a bit fluffier. We watched the birds for about an hour before the winds kicked up and threatened rain and the owls hunkered down in their burrows.

Adult Burrowing Owl

Young Burrowing Owl in flight

Takeaway Tips: The Badlands in the summer are hot. It hit over triple digits on the car thermometer, and this was early on in the day. We were fortunate to have cloud cover from 10AM onward, or we may have cooked. We got to the Badlands at sunrise so we would have the best chances for birds and to stay cool. Even though it is really, really hot in July, if you can stand the heat, the young animals are worth it. There are young animals everywhere and they are adorable!

One of the best places to see Burrowing Owls consistently seems to be the section around Robert’s Prairie Dog Town, which makes sense there are hundreds of pre-made burrows for the owls to take advantage of. Now I know that bison proximity can make a difference in seeing one of these owls, and it makes sense- if I had a herd of bison marching over my roof, I would get out of the house too!

Badlands National Park Trip List:

Mammals- Bighorn Sheep, Bison, Black-tailed Prairie Dog, Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Birds: Burrowing Owl, Black-billed Magpie, Western Meadowlark, Horned Lark, Sharp-tailed Grouse, Mourning Dove, American Kestrel, Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk, American Pipit

Bird of the Day: Cassia Crossbill

Cassia Crossbill, Loxia sinesciuris

With their unique crisscrossed bills and their nomadic habits, crossbills are an intriguing family of birds. In 2017, a subspecies of Red Crossbill in Idaho was granted species status. Unlike other Red Crossbills, this species is not nomadic and stays in one place. On top of that, it has developed a slightly thicker bill to feed on the seeds of lodgepole pine that regular Red Crossbills cannot open. Because it is endemic to Cassia County in Idaho, this new species was named the Cassia Crossbill.

Fortunately for me, my road trip to move from Alaska to Wisconsin gave me an opportunity to pass through Cassia County and attempt to find the Cassia Crossbill. I had never before been to Idaho, and do not know when I will be passing through again, so I knew I had to make every effort to see this bird while I had the chance. Using Ebird, we were able to find Cassia Crossbills that had been reported in the souther portion of the Sawtooth National Forest. A number of crossbills had been reported during the week at the Diamondfield Jack Campground, which fortunately offers overnight camping. Figuring that we could spend the entire evening looking for them upon arrival, we also reasoned that we could camp and devote the next morning to looking for them if necessary.

It took us about a half hour of driving to reach the campground from the western entrance to the National Forest. When we got there it was around 6PM, so there was still plenty of daylight left to look for the crossbills. A group of birders was already there, and they told us that they had been staking out the crossbills for hours already and had seen them earlier that morning in a tall snag at the far edge of the campground.

Figuring that we had some time to get situated before setting up our own stakeout, I went to go relieve myself in the woods. No sooner had I found a good spot then I heard the unmistakable (albeit weird sounding) call of a flock of crossbills, and I looked up to see about thirty of the birds zooming towards the aforementioned snag. Changing plans, I ran back to the campground and raced over to get to see the flock of Cassia Crossbills spend a few minutes eating some cones before moving on. Now that’s what I call instantaneous (albeit poorly timed) gratification!

The next morning, we got up at daybreak and sure enough saw the entire flock in the snag. We chased them from tree to tree as they foraged, getting better looks as the sun got higher. The other group of birders, who had also stayed the night, called us over to a pile of downed tree limbs. To our delight, the Cassia Crossbills were eating from the pinecones about eight feet away, completely oblivious to our presence. Since it was mid-July, we even got to see a juvenile bird beg for food and then get fed! It was amazing to be able to see such a unique bird so closely.

Adult male

Juvenile Crossbill

Takeaway Tips: The Diamondfield Jack Campground has a ring of lodge pines that the crossbills feed on. They do laps, so patience will eventually pay off. Looking for fallen limbs with pinecones can help you see the crossbills close up, otherwise it was a case of serious warbler-neck looking at them at the tops of the pines (and the looks were not nearly as satisfying.)

Note that there is no cell service in the campground. I needed to use Ebird to familiarize myself with its calls, since they are the best way to distinguish Cassia Crossbill from Red Crossbill. I wish that I had recorded the call with my phone so I could have accessed it while I was in the campground; luckily it was different enough (and the other birders were able to help us confirm that we were indeed seeing Cassia Crossbills).