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 July 18th, 2004 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 2 July 17th 2004 Near Pierre, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 3 July 18th, 2004 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 4 July 18th, 2004 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota

Burrowing Owl 5 July 4th, 2005 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 6 July 27th, 2009 Antelope Island near Great Salt Lake, Utah	Burrowing Owl 7 July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 8 July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota

Burrowing Owl 9 July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 10 July 29th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 11 July 4th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 12 July 29th, 2007 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota

Burrowing Owl 13 August 22nd, 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 14 August 22nd, 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 15 September 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 16 September 2008 Near Brandon, South Dakota

Burrowing Owl 17 July 27th, 2015 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 18 July 27th, 2015 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 19 July 27th, 2015 Fort Pierre National Grasslands, South Dakota	Burrowing Owl 20 July 3rd, 2017 Buffalo Gap National Grasslands, South Dakota