Description: Small brown ground-dwelling owl, 23 - 28 cm (9 - 11 in.) long. Legs long, tail short and stubby, and chin with white stripe. Often seen in daytime standing next to burrow or perching on fence posts. Bobs up and down when agitated. Nesting season from March to July; clutch size 7 - 9 eggs; incubation 28 days; fledging time unknown.
Diet: Feeds mostly on insects and rodents, occasionally small birds and reptiles; hunts mostly in early evening.
Habitat: Yearlong resident in open, dry Mojave desert scrub, sagebrush, and open areas in pinyon-juniper and mixed conifer communities. Nesting often in colonies in abandoned burrows, which owls enlarge and modify. Also found in urbanized areas, but sightings have decreased in recent years. Many owls from northern areas winter in the Mojave Desert areas of Southern Nevada.
Range: Occurs throughout the State of Nevada, western and Midwestern United States, Central America, and South America.
Comments: Older texts use Speotyto cunicularia hypugaea.