Burrowing Owl
Burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia )
The burrowing owl or rabbit owl, Präriekauz, Prärieeule or Höhleneule (Athene cunicularia ) is an owl of the genus Athene ( Athena ), which is characterized by very long legs. He lives as a bottom dweller in the grasslands of western North and South America to Cape Horn, he also comes in isolated populations in Florida and on some Caribbean islands.
Features
The fellow reaches a height 19 to 26 inches, with the largest specimens occur in the Andes. He comes within its range still in a strong color variance. So the animals in southern South America, in Florida and Haiti are dark green to chocolate brown and white spotted vigorously and banded. In the semi-desert areas, such as in the Brazilian domestic, the animals are yellow sand and in forest areas often pale brown with orange spots.
Way of life
The burrowing owl lives as bottom dwellers, especially in semi-deserts and steppes. He lives in soil caves that are either derived from mammals or even be dug. The burrow extends to one meter below the ground and can be a up to three meters long, winding gear. The species forms loose colonies of up to 12 breeding pairs. The two to eleven eggs are laid in the brood chamber, which was previously padded coarse. The incubation period lasts about four weeks in which both partners alternately brooding.
The burrowing owl is mainly crepuscular, but also hunts during the day and at night. As a dietary serve the animals large beetles and other insects as well as small mammals, frogs and sometimes small birds. It was observed that the owl has developed a special strategy for hunting of dung beetles. The Owls lure the beetles by collecting dung of mammals and interpret these targeted before their nests.
If the owl startled, he can hear a warning cry, with a hiss and rattle is similar to hear the Drohgeräusch a rattlesnake.
Near the ground caves in the brood chamber transition and even to the deep under construction nest of burrowing Kotreste other animals distributed. By many insects are attracted to the nest during the busy breeding season, so the owl brooding its demand in proteins.
System
The first description of Kaninchenkauzes came from Juan Ignacio Molina in 1782. Due to the differences in lifestyle and in the anatomy he was considered a few years ago as the only species of the genus Speotyto.
Subspecies
There are twenty-two subspecies have been described which differ mainly in their coloring:
- Athene cunicularia cunicularia ( Molina, 1782 )
- Athene cunicularia hypugaea ( Bonaparte, 1825)
- Athene cunicularia rostrata ( Townsend, CH, 1890)
- Athene cunicularia floridana ( Ridgway, 1874)
- Athene cunicularia guantanamensis ( Garrido, 2001)
- Athene cunicularia troglodytes ( Wetmore & Swales, 1931)
- Athene cunicularia amaura (Lawrence, 1878)
- Athene cunicularia guadeloupensis ( Ridgway, 1874)
- Athene cunicularia arubensis ( Cory, 1915)
- Athene cunicularia brachyptera (Richmond, 1896)
- Athene cunicularia apurensis ( Gilliard, 1940)
- Athene cunicularia minor ( Cory, 1918)
- Athene cunicularia carrikeri (Stone, 1922)
- Athene cunicularia tolimae (Stone, 1899)
- Athene cunicularia pichinchae ( Boetticher, 1929)
- Athene cunicularia punensis ( Chapman, 1914)
- Athene cunicularia intermedia ( Cory, 1915)
- Athene cunicularia Nanodes ( Berlepsch & proud man, 1892)
- Athene cunicularia juninensis ( Berlepsch & proud man, 1902)
- Athene cunicularia boliviana ( Kelso, L, 1939)
- Athene cunicularia Grallaria ( Temminck, 1822)
- Athene cunicularia partridgei Olrog, 1976
A fossil called Athene cunicularia providentiae of the Bahamas and the West Indies seems a questionable extinct Art It is probably the subspecies A. c. floridana.
Stock
The existence of the Kaninchenkauzes is currently classified by the IUCN as non-critical .. In some areas of its range but there is strong population decline. So took in the U.S. 1966-2000, the breeding population at an annual average of 1.2 percent. One of the causes of this inventory development is considered the decline of the prairie dog population. Particularly in the Great Plains burrowing use most frequently discontinued floor caves of prairie dogs on the edge of prairie dog colonies and were here at the same time also a slightly reduced pressure of predators exposed.