Where to Spot Burrowing Owls in Marana

If you want to see one of the Southwest's most unusual birds, Marana is a great place to look.

Burrowing owls (Athene cunicularia) are small, ground-dwelling owls that are active during the day, unlike almost every other owl species. That means visitors have a real shot at spotting one without a night hike or a lucky dusk sighting.

Burrowing Owl Facts
Best Time to Visit
What to Look For
Conservation
Birding in Marana

Burrowing Owl Facts

  • Their scientific name, cunicularia, means "miner" in Latin, a nod to their underground home
  • Cowboys nicknamed them "howdy owls" because they bob their heads as riders pass by.
  • Burrowing owls typically rely on burrows dug by other animals, like prairie dogs and badgers, rather than digging their own.
  • If threatened in the burrow, owl chicks can mimic the sound of a rattlesnake to scare off predators.
  • Their diet includes grasshoppers, mice, small mammals, reptiles, and other insects.

Best Time to Visit

If you're looking to spot burrowing owls, they are easiest to see in the early morning and late afternoon, when they're most active outside their burrows. Look for them year-round in Marana's agricultural areas, where they nest in erosion holes beneath concrete-lined irrigation ditches, a naturally cool spot when water is running through the channel above them.

What to Look For

These owls don't perch in trees like most owls. Like their name states, they stay low to the ground near their burrow entrance. If you want to be sure to spot one, follow these tips:

  • Look low, not up. They're ground-level, not in trees or on wires.
  • Watch for the "periscope" move where their heads pop up out of a hole, then duck back down if they sense movement nearby.
  • Their brown, speckled feathers blend into the dirt, so scan slowly rather than looking for motion.
  • They're only about 10 inches tall, so binoculars help.

Always be sure to view owls from a respectful distance and avoid approaching burrows directly. Getting a good look at them doesn't require getting close.

Burrowing Owls Conservation

Burrowing owl numbers have declined across much of their range as burrows disappear and habitat is cleared for development. The species is protected in Arizona under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Arizona Revised Statutes Title 17-235.

If you notice ground-disturbing activity that could affect a burrow, you can report it to the Arizona Game & Fish Department or Wild at Heart, a local group that relocates owls to safe, artificial burrows.

Want to learn more about the burrowing owl? Check out their page on All About Birds.

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