Burrowing Owl at Escondido Safari Park — Live Webcam

Burrowing Owl — the Most Unusual Owl on the Planet

Among all owl species, the burrowing owl stands out so radically that ornithologists call it an anomaly in the world of birds of prey. This small bird, about 23 cm in length with long legs, goes against all owl traditions: it is active during the day, lives in colonies, and spends a significant part of its life underground. Unlike its tree-dwelling relatives, the burrowing owl has no need for trees, rarely flies, and settles in burrows, which is absolutely atypical for the owl family.

The territoriality of this predator is striking — despite its modest size, it is ready to attack large intruders to defend its underground shelter. This is the bird you can observe via the live camera at the San Diego Safari Park in Escondido, California, USA.

Why the Burrowing Owl Lives Underground

The burrowing owl does not dig its own burrows from scratch — instead, it occupies abandoned shelters of other animals: hares, rabbits, ground squirrels, and badgers. This is the feature that gave the species its name. The bird uses its claws and beak to expand and modify existing underground passages, turning them into a bunker system up to 1 meter deep.

Interestingly, the first documented case of a burrowing owl using a badger's den was recorded during a habitat study. However, badgers, coyotes, snakes, and skunks remain the owl's natural enemies — they can occupy their burrows and kill the birds, creating a constant threat to underground colonies.

Escondido Safari Park and the Species Conservation Program

At the San Diego Safari Park, located in the city of Escondido, California, there is a conservation program for the western burrowing owl Athene cunicularia hypugaea, which is threatened with local extinction in San Diego County. The park maintains three pairs of burrowing owls for breeding, and the chicks are moved to special enclosures before being released into the wild.

The breeding program collaborates with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the live webcast from the underground burrow allows thousands of people to observe the lives of these amazing birds in real time. There is a known case where a park employee named Jimmy raised two orphaned burrowing owl chicks at home, feeding them the most natural diet possible.

Desert Landscape — Home of the Long-Legged Owl

The natural habitat of the burrowing owl is open, dry landscapes with low vegetation: grassy fields, pastures, agricultural lands, and desert terrain. In California, such areas stretch from valleys to foothills, providing ideal conditions for hunting and nesting.

At the Escondido Safari Park, a special enclosure has been created that mimics the desert environment: sandy-soil surface, scattered rocks and boulders of various sizes, succulents among the stones, and dry shrubby vegetation. In the background, trees with thin trunks are visible, and on the right there is a dark burrow-like depression framed by rocks — a shelter for the birds.

How to Watch the Burrowing Owl Online

The burrowing owl webcam at the Escondido Safari Park operates in real time, allowing you to see the behavior of these unusual birds without having to travel to California. The best time to watch is during daylight hours, when the owls are most active, patrolling the area near the burrow and hunting insects and small rodents.

The online camera is positioned so that viewers can see both the entrance to the underground burrow and the surrounding landscape. This is a unique opportunity to observe a bird that leads an atypical owl lifestyle — diurnal, ground-dwelling, and colonial.

What You Can See on the Camera

The burrowing owl camera shows a desert landscape with a sandy-soil surface, scattered rocks and boulders of various sizes. In the center of the composition is an agave-like succulent among the rocks. In the background, trees with thin trunks and dry shrubby vegetation are visible. On the right is a dark burrow-like depression framed by rocks, likely serving as a shelter for the animals. The landscape mimics the natural desert habitat of the burrowing owl. In the upper part of the image, blue sky is visible through the tree branches.