Burrowing owlets are starting to emerge in eastern Idaho

As I pulled onto a series of badger holes, a female burrowing owl popped out of one of the burrows and began cussing me. Her significant other quickly flew in as an owlet joined the couple on the edge of the burrow.

Soon, the male flew off to do some hunting, two more owlets emerged from the hole, sprinted to mom and cuddled up to her. One of them appeared to have recently hatched and stayed close to mom while the other two owlets did some exploring. They would go down the burrow and then come back out to chase a beetle or another insect.

When a swainson’s hawk flew high overhead, the female and all three owlets dove down the burrow. After about half an hour, the male returned to the burrow and was soon joined by the female and one of the owlets. The owlets again rushed to see the female when the male left again, almost knocking her over. Once again, the smallest owlet always stayed close to the female.

After watching them for almost two hours, I drove to two other burrows where I saw pairs preparing to make a home two months ago. It appeared that the females were still sitting on eggs or the owlets were not old enough to come out of the burrows because the males were standing guard near the entrance holes.

If you know where burrowing owls are nesting, now is the time to watch them closely. The owlets are very playful and interesting to watch as they develop their hunting skills. These small owls are the only birds to nest underground, and the female incubates the eggs while the male supplies her with food and protection. While sitting on the eggs, the female will develop a “brood patch,” where there are no feathers on part of her belly so the eggs can stay warm by direct contact with her skin. Females can hatch up to nine eggs.

About 80% of their food is insects and the adults will decorate the burrow by picking up animal dung to attract insects and make a quick meal for the nest. The male may capture small animals to feed the family as it grows, but the owlets quickly learn to catch beetles and grasshoppers for themselves.

I will continue to watch these nest areas and be entertained by the growing youngsters. Hopefully, a badger will not find them before they learn to fly.

It is now time to put most of your bird feeders away, except for hummingbird feeders. Most birds have an abundance of food naturally and if we continue to feed sunflower and other seeds, we create “lazy” birds that lose their ability to find their own food. This spring, I had a group of male red-winged blackbirds become dependent on my seed feeders until I emptied them and left them hanging. They finally left after cleaning up all the seeds they had wasted on the ground.

Hummingbird feeders should be filled with sugar-water, mixed about three parts water to one part sugar. Red dyes are not necessary to add to the mix – they will find the feeders with the sweet offering.

Good luck and enjoy the great outdoors safely during the summer.