The prairies of Colorado offer much more than what first meets the eye. Scanning your eyes along a prairie dog colony, you see the usual mounds of soil with little rodents curiously watching your every move. In the clearing of grass there appears to be one prairie dog after another. However, if you look even closer, you might notice another prairie regular; a raptor commonly found standing atop a prairie dog mound, trying to blend in with its rodent neighbors. From a distance, it almost looks like a long- legged prairie dog. But, it’s a burrowing owl—one of Colorado’s most watchable species of wildlife.
While whizzing across the prairie on the interstate, it’s easy to miss the wonder and beauty of the prairie’s interconnectedness. Plan a day to go out and view the prairie, and you’re sure to notice things you’ve never noticed before.
It’s always a thrill to see your first burrowing owl! These small raptors stand only 9 inches tall, with their most obvious feature being their long stick-like legs. Their eyes are strikingly yellow and are framed by prominent white eyebrows. They’re mostly brown in color, but adults have some white spotting on the chest and belly.
Burrowing owls are ‘housing scavengers’, using previously occupied burrows instead of digging their own (though they can and do excavate their own). They usually take advantage of abandoned prairie dog homes, but will occupy old rodent or badger burrows as well. It’s in these burrows that the female will lay and care for her 6-11 eggs during the spring and summer months. The male also assists with incubation and owlet rearing after the eggs hatch. Two to 4 weeks after the owlets appear above ground, they will move to a different burrow. This isn’t the end of the family, however; the owlets and parents stay together into September. After the owlets are ready to completely separate from their parents, the October migration to Mexico begins. There they’ll stay in Central America until they’re ready to return to Colorado in late March.
One of Colorado’s prime sites for burrowing owl viewing is our very own Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (RMANWR). The land at RMANWR is currently the largest habitat restoration project in the USA and possibly in the world. Previously a World War II and Cold War chemical weapons manufacturing facility, the Arsenal has been cleaned up as a Superfund site and is well on its way to becoming, once again, pristine prairie.
If there’s one thing the Arsenal doesn’t have a shortage of, it’s prairie dogs! This provides thousands of acres of habitat for burrowing owls. You’re sure to see at least one burrowing owl standing around in any given prairie dog colony.
The Arsenal schedules a fun and informative bus tour, and with their great educational visitor’s center, you can bring the whole family by for an exciting day of wildlife watching. For more information, contact the US Fish and Wildlife Service at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, 303/289-0930.