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The burrowing owl is sometimes classified in the monotypic genus Speotyto (based on an overall unique morphology and karyotype). Osteology and DNA sequence data, though, suggests that the burrowing owl is a terrestrial member of the little owls genus (Athene), thus it is placed in that group today, by most authorities.
The type species was designated as the little owl (Athene noctua) by the English zoologist George Robert Gray in 1841. [2] [3] The genus name is from the little owl which was closely associated with the Greek goddess Athena, and often depicted with her. Her original role as a goddess of the night might explain the link to an owl. [4]
The little owl was formally described in 1769 by the Italian naturalist Giovanni Antonio Scopoli under the binomial name Strix noctua. [3] The little owl is now placed in the genus Athene that was introduced by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie in 1822. [4] [5] The owl was designated as the type species of the genus by George Robert Gray in 1841.
The burrowing owl will borrow a burrow created by a burrowing rodent. The elf owl, our smallest, often lives in a hole in a cactus. Here's a barred owl.
A family portrait of burrowing owls in Florida. Open grasslands are shrinking where the tiny burrowing owl makes its home nesting in underground burrows.
The burrowing owl lives its life the opposite of most owls. Rather than being active at night and living in trees, this bird spends the day awake and makes its home on the ground, Magle said.
Burrowing owl: Athene cunicularia (Molina, 1782) 71 Little owl: Athene noctua (Scopoli, 1769) 72 Spotted owlet: Athene brama (Temminck, 1821) 73 West Solomons owl:
A renewed effort to list burrowing owls under the California Endangered Species Act just cleared an early hurdle. Conservationists say the situation for the owls that nest underground has only ...