If you had never heard of the Burrowing Owl, you’d think someone was playing a trick on you. It lives under the ground, runs after prey, and is awake and active during the day? What kind of owl is that supposed to be?! But of course they are actually owls. They fly, they still have night vision, they live to hang out in trees.

Burrow Owls are fairly short, but look a bit taller when they’re standing around on those long legs. The live in dry, largely barren ground all the way from the US/Canada border down to almost the southern tip of Argentina. They rely on further homes of ground dwelling mammals like badgers, foxes, and prairie dogs, so their success in an area requires the environment to be able to support both the owls themselves and their “home contractors.”

Being tiny, Burrowing Owls need to protect themselves, so they have developed some unique methods of home security. The adults will put the poop off other animals and line the entrance to the burrow. This is either a deterrent or covers the scent of the owls living inside. Baby Burrows also make a defensive sound that mimics a rattlesnake to determine outsiders from poking around inside the hole.

Insects and mice are their favorite foods, though occasionally they will catch a bird, bat, or worm.

While most of us probably know Burrowing Owls, or at least their cousins, the Little Owls, most are probably less familiar with the elusive Boreal Owl. This owl is very shy and lives far north in the taiga of the higher Northern Hemisphere. To come across this small bobblehead in the wild is a very special occasion.

Voles and small mammals are their main food source, though they will largely eat whatever is available, like birds, bats, or insects.

I didn’t see much more info out there about these little fellas. There’s more written about the chilly circumpolar forests they call home than I saw about the owls themselves. If you like tiny owls and don’t mind a more shy and pale version of a Saw Whet, this may be the owl for you.

Time to get those votes in! Do you choose the extroverted, community living, and outgoing Burrow Owl? Or is the shy introvert from the far north more what you’re seeking. Both are small and adorable, but we’ve got to pick one to move on.