Burrowing Owl Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Burrowing Owls are relatively easy to find during the summer months in South Dakota. If you find a prairie dog town in the central or western part of the state, you have a good chance of also finding Burrowing Owls. I've made many treks west to the wonderful grasslands in central and western South Dakota, but my favorite Burrowing Owl photo is the one that came as the biggest surprise. In August 2008 I was returning home from a work trip, flying into Sioux Falls. I was making the 8 mile drive back to our home in Brandon, taking a paved road that didn't get a huge amount of traffic, when I saw a bird on a fence post up in the distance. As I passed, I had to do a double-take...Burrowing Owl!! I slowly reversed to confirm, and yes! A Burrowing Owl, just a few miles from our home!

Burrowing Owls used to be more broadly spread in the Great Plains, but with the plowing of land for cropland, such as the majority of land in eastern South Dakota, their habitat had been removed. There's thus a relatively sharp cutoff in sightings down the middle of the state, with few sightings in eastern South Dakota. No breeding had been confirmed within ~150 miles of where this bird was found. And as I soon learned, it wasn't just one, it was a breeding pair with young! There was an old badger hole in an alfalfa field that they seemed to be using as their home base. There were at least 3 young and the two adults, and I had a wonderful time that August and September watching the little family, before they drifted off one by one and headed south for the winter. My favorite photo here may be the ONLY bird I have photos from on my entire website, taken at night. I had a blast that night, watching them feed on grasshoppers and other insect critters near the road.

Burrowing Owl - Athene cunicularia


Burrowing Owl 1	Burrowing Owl 2	Burrowing Owl 3	Burrowing Owl 4
July 18th, 2004	July 17th 2004	July 18th, 2004	July 18th, 2004
Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Near Pierre, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Young owl with inquisitive look on a fence post	Head-on view of owl on a fence post	Young first-year owl at the entrance to the nest burrow	Pair of juvenile owls at the entrance to nesting burrow

Burrowing Owl 5	Burrowing Owl 6	Burrowing Owl 7	Burrowing Owl 8
July 4th, 2005	July 27th, 2009	July 4th, 2007	July 4th, 2007
Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Owl on wooden fence post	Closeup of owl poking its head out of a nesting burrow	Owl in flight with head turned towards camera	Owl in flight

Burrowing Owl 9	Burrowing Owl 10	Burrowing Owl 11	Burrowing Owl 12
July 4th, 2007	July 29th, 2007	July 4th, 2007	July 29th, 2007
Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota
Owl in flight over prairie dog town	Adult owl perched on top of a wooden fence post	Adult owl perched on top of a wooden fence post	Owl and habitat, sitting at nest site in a prairie dog town

Burrowing Owl 13	Burrowing Owl 14	Burrowing Owl 15	Burrowing Owl 16
August 22nd, 2008	August 22nd, 2008	September 2008	September 2008
Near Brandon, South Dakota	Near Brandon, South Dakota	Near Brandon, South Dakota	Near Brandon, South Dakota
Alert owl on dirt road at night	Owl hunting grasshoppers at night along dirt road	First year bird sitting at entrance of nesting burrow in an alfalfa field	Owl wish freshly caught cicada

Burrowing Owl 17	Burrowing Owl 18	Burrowing Owl 19	Burrowing Owl 20
July 27th, 2015	July 27th, 2015	July 27th, 2015	July 3rd, 2017
Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, South Dakota
Adult in flight with sunny blue sky	Hovering adult starting into camera	Single bird perched on wooden fence post	Single adult owl perched on the ground in typical grassland habitat

Burrowing Owl 21	Burrowing Owl 22	Burrowing Owl 23
July 5th, 2020	July 5th, 2020	July 5th, 2020
Hughes County, South Dakota	Hughes County, South Dakota	Hughes County, South Dakota
Single owl sitting at the entrance to a nesting burrow	Alert adult standing on top of a wooden fence post	Adult perched on top of a metal fence post