Burrowing owls in California: Range, burrows, calls and listing status

There are burrowing owls in California year-round, but they have disappeared from many places where they once nested, especially along the coast. The small, long-legged owl lives in open, dry grassland, desert and farmland, and it nests underground, usually in burrows dug by ground squirrels. CDFW says the owl once ranged across California's lowland valley bottoms, coastal lowlands and interior deserts and is now most abundant in the Imperial Valley and parts of the Central Valley. The official state checklist lists it as Burrowing Owl, Athene cunicularia.

The western burrowing owl is a candidate for listing under the California Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Game Commission found a listing petition warranted in October 2024, and candidates receive the same legal protection as threatened and endangered species while the state decides. The owl was still a candidate on CDFW's July 2026 list. It is also a California Bird Species of Special Concern, and like every owl it is protected under California's birds-of-prey law and the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

This guide covers where burrowing owls live in California, how to identify them, their burrows, diet and nesting, their calls, their legal status and the owls they can be confused with. It is part of our guide to the birds of California and our guide to birds of prey in California.

Burrowing owl at a glance: Size, season and status in California:

Sources: CBRC checklist (September 8, 2026); CDFW (November 2024 release; July 2026 list); CDFW Species of Special Concern account (2008); All About Birds (size); 50 CFR 10.13.

Burrowing owl identification: A small, long-legged owl that stands on the ground:

The burrowing owl is a small owl with long legs, a short tail and a round head with no ear tufts. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's identification page, it is 7.5 to 9.8 inches long, with a wingspan of about 21.6 inches, and weighs about 5.3 ounces. That makes it about the length of an American robin but much bulkier. Unlike most owls, males and females are the same size.

Adults are brown, mottled with sandy, pale spots on the back and wings. The breast is spotted and the belly is barred with dark brown. A bold white throat and white eyebrows frame bright yellow eyes. Young birds are less mottled, with buffy-yellow underparts and a buffy-yellow wing patch.

Behavior is the easiest clue. Burrowing owls are active by day and spend much of their time on the ground or on low perches such as fence posts. CDFW's habitat account notes that they often stand at the burrow entrance in daytime. When alarmed, they bob their bodies up and down. They hunt by day or night, watching from a perch, hovering, diving and hopping after prey on the ground.

Burrowing owls in California: Most abundant in the Imperial and Central valleys:

CDFW's habitat account describes the burrowing owl as a year-round resident of open, dry grassland and desert. The owl was formerly common in suitable habitat throughout California, except in the humid forests of the northwest coast and the high mountains, and it has been found as high as 5,300 feet in Lassen County.

The distribution has changed considerably. The state's Bird Species of Special Concern account, published by CDFW and Western Field Ornithologists in 2008, described three patterns. Declines and local extirpations had occurred mainly along the central and southern coast, where development was rapid. Large breeding populations remained in the agricultural Central and Imperial valleys. Most owls lived on private land.

By region, the 2008 account reported the following:

• Southern California coast. The owl had been nearly extirpated as a breeding bird from coastal San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles and Orange counties. Breeding sites persisted inland, in parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, with smaller numbers in San Diego County.
• Deserts. Owls occurred across most of the Mojave and Colorado deserts in low numbers and widely scattered sites. Numbers had increased greatly with irrigated agriculture in the Imperial Valley and along the lower Colorado River.
• Northern California. The owl was scarce in the northeast, with small numbers nesting in the Honey Lake basin of Lassen County and in Sierra Valley in Plumas County. The account also reported declines in the San Francisco Bay region.

Most California burrowing owls stay put through the year. Owls withdraw from higher areas such as the Modoc Plateau in winter, and migrants from elsewhere in western North America join the lowland residents. The account calls California one of the most important wintering areas for migrating burrowing owls.

Burrowing owl habitat, diet and nesting in California: Ground squirrel burrows and short grass:

The burrowing owl needs burrows for roosting and nesting, and it needs short vegetation with few shrubs. In California its burrows are most often dug by California ground squirrels, according to the Species of Special Concern account. Owls also use dens of badgers, coyotes and foxes. In the Imperial Valley they dig their own burrows in the soft earthen banks of irrigation ditches and canals. Culverts, piles of concrete rubble, pipes and nest boxes serve where natural burrows are scarce. CDFW lists farmland, golf courses and cattle pastures among the human-altered places the owl uses.

Insects make up most of what burrowing owls eat by number, including beetles, crickets and grasshoppers, along with centipedes and spiders. Small rodents, birds, amphibians, reptiles and carrion round out the diet, and in some regions vertebrates supply most of the food by weight. Owls usually forage close to home. In farm areas of the southern San Joaquin and Imperial valleys, more than 80% of foraging observations were within about 2,000 feet of the nest burrow.

CDFW's habitat account gives a breeding season of March through August, peaking in April and May. The Species of Special Concern account notes it can begin as early as February and run into December. Clutches range from two to 10 eggs, five or six on average. The young come out of the burrow at about two weeks and fly at about four weeks. Burrowing owls often nest near one another, and the habitat account calls the species "probably the most gregarious owl in North America."

Burrowing owl calls and sounds: Soft coos and a rattlesnake-like rasp:

Burrowing owls are not especially vocal, but they have a wide range of sounds. The Cornell Lab's sound page describes cooing, warbling, rasping, clucking, screaming and rattling calls. The most common is a two-note cooing call given by males during courtship and to defend territory. Young owls make eep calls and rasping sounds. The most intense, drawn-out rasp may scare off predators by imitating a rattlesnake's warning. Recordings are on the All About Birds sound page.

Burrowing owl legal status in California: A CESA candidate and Species of Special Concern:

A coalition of seven conservation and bird groups petitioned the Fish and Game Commission on March 5, 2024, to list the western burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia hypugaea, as threatened or endangered. In October 2024 the Commission found the petition warranted, which made the owl a candidate species. CDFW confirmed the candidacy on its CESA page. Under Fish and Game Code sections 2074.2 and 2085, candidates receive the same protection as listed species, according to CDFW. CDFW conducts the status review and makes a recommendation, and the Commission makes the final decision.

The owl was still listed as a candidate on CDFW's July 2026 list of listed animals. The Commission's CESA page still showed the petition as active, with no final decision, in October 2026.

CDFW's release lists the threats behind the petition as habitat loss to urban and suburban development, declining ground squirrel populations, changing farming practices, pesticide poisoning and predation. The 2008 Species of Special Concern account named the urbanization of farmland in the Central and Imperial valleys as the greatest threat. It also cited coastal development, ground squirrel eradication, traffic deaths near roads and the conversion of open fields to vineyards and orchards, where the owl is unlikely to persist. That account ranks the burrowing owl a Bird Species of Special Concern (breeding), priority 2.

General bird protections apply as well. Fish and Game Code section 3503.5 makes it unlawful to take, possess or destroy any owl or hawk, or its nest or eggs, except as the code or its regulations allow, and section 3503 protects the nests and eggs of all birds. Possessing a wild burrowing owl, including as a pet, is therefore unlawful unless the code or its regulations allow it. The owl is on the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act list, and section 3513 makes taking or possessing any bird on that list unlawful under state law too, except as federal rules allow. The burrowing owl is not federally listed as endangered or threatened.

Similar species to the burrowing owl in California: Short-eared, pygmy and saw-whet owls:

The Cornell Lab's comparison page names three owls that can be confused with a burrowing owl.

• Short-eared owl. Another owl of open country that is often active by day. It is much larger, with shorter legs and heavier vertical streaking.
• Northern pygmy-owl. It is smaller than a burrowing owl and perches in trees rather than on the ground. CDFW's habitat account places it in forest habitats, not open grassland.
• Northern saw-whet owl. It is smaller, with shorter legs, and lives in forests.

The barn owl shares some open habitats but is larger, pale, heart-faced and active at night.

Burrowing owls in California: A declining ground owl awaiting a listing decision:

Burrowing owls in California still live year-round in open grassland, desert and farmland, but their range has shifted from the coast toward the farm valleys of the interior. Their survival depends on ground squirrel burrows and short vegetation, both of which disappear with development. The western burrowing owl has been a candidate for state listing since October 2024 and holds the same protection as a listed species until the Fish and Game Commission makes its final decision.