The Invisible Little Burrowing Owl, Is He Your Neighbor Too?

One thing most owls are good at is being invisible. We can walk right under them and not even notice. This little owl is even better than most owls. The Burrowing Owl is wide-spread across America but, few of us have noticed one. Or if we did get a glimpse, we're not quite sure of what we had seen.

Around 1782 in Chili was the first time this little owl was documented. They have been called Ground Owls, Rattlesnake Owls, Hill Owls, Prairie Dog Owls, Tunnel Owls, Gopher Owls but they all mean the same thing; the Burrowing Owl. This owl is only about ten inches high with a wing span of 1 1/2 - 2 feet. It is easy to see how they can be over looked so often, they are a bit un-owl like in appearance and behavior. With a small rounded head with no ear tufts, and white eyebrows, sitting on top of a fence post or a log they blend right in and look like part of the wood. Their color is that of aged wood so it is hard to tell where the branch stops and the owl starts.

Burrowing Owls are one of the few that can be active during the day. Their favorite time is still dawn or dusk for their hunting! But, because of their size they like to be done feeding by the time the bigger "owl eating" predators come out later at night. Since they can see in the daylight too, if the evening feed didn't go very well they have the option of hunting longer in the morning. Due to this most Burrowing Owl sightings are during the day. Most states west of the Mississippi Valley have these owls at least for part of the year. If you have Prairie Dogs, Gophers, Voles, grasshoppers, or mice chances are pretty good you have this owl. His favorite habitat is grass lands but he will be adaptable if his food source is available. They also can perch in pine trees, or on the fence in your suburb. He prefers to live in old Prairie Dog or Gopher holes though he can do some pretty good digging if necessary, to have that just perfect hole. If your in the top states closer to Canada, this owl is migratory, the lower half of the US. he stays year around. It just depends on the weather. (OK, Bad pun!)

And yes, this owl has it's nest in dens in the ground. The mom and dad will both feed the young. If they have to they will feed their young 24/7 taking turns sleeping and getting food. At around 14 days old they can be sitting on top of their mound, outside the den entrance. By two months they will be chasing insects around on their own for dinner. If there is room the Burrowing Owl may stay close to his family unit if there are enough burrows and food.

The Gopher Owl can live up to ten years in captivity. Other owls, hawks, badgers, skunks, cars, cats and dogs all try to shorten that life span in the wild. Unfortunately in Colorado the Burrowing Owl is listed as "State Threatened" which is just a breath away from endangered. Most of the states that have the Prairie Dog Owl, have it listed either protected or endangered. But which do you save first, the owl or its food source which is a nuisance to most of us? Maybe we should look a little closer at the food chain.

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The Cute Little Robin In Your Backyard

The American Robin is such a common site in our lives it is easy to not pay them any attention. But they do bare taking a second glance. The North American Robin is a migratory songbird. It is named after the European Robin, because of their reddish orange breast, although they are not closely related. It is also the state bird for Michigan, Connecticut, and Wisconsin.

The main difference between male and female Robins are that females are paler in color than the males. These birds average from 8-11 inches in height and wingspan from 12-16 inches.

Robins can have 1-3 successful broods a year, although 2 broods a year is most common. Each clutch produces 3-5 eggs, eggs are about an inch in length. Their eggs are a robins egg blue of course, just like the crayon named after them! They are said to be the prettiest of all bird eggs. They are unmarked and a sky blue or blue-green color. Although out of all the nests, only 40 percent of the eggs produce successful hatchlings on average. Then out of those young birds, typically only 25 percent survive till November. And from those birds, only about half will survive to the next year. You would think with the high mortality rate Robin's would be about extinct. But their population is said to be stable, if anything, on the rise. The oldest recorded American Robin was 13 years, 11 months. Although on average the entire populations turns over every 6 years.

American Robins are one of the earliest birds to lay their eggs in the spring. Beginning to breed shortly upon arriving to their summer range. The female Robin chooses the nest location, typically on the lower half of a tree, and sometimes in gutters, outdoor light fixtures, in eves, etc. In the prairies, they commonly build their nests in thickets or on the ground. After choosing the nest site, she will begin building her nest from the inside out. She will press dead grass and twigs using the wrist of one of her wings to create a cup shape. They also use materials such as paper, roots, moss, feathers, string, etc. When the cup is formed, the female Robin will then reinforce the nest with mud and worm castings (organic materials derived from plant and animals matter) to create a stable and sturdy nest. She will then cushion the nest with grass and other soft materials. Once complete the nests average 6-8 inches in diameter and 3-6 inches high. The incubation period for the eggs range from 12-14 days. Hatchlings are mostly naked and helpless at birth. The young Robins only stay in the nest for about 15 days. Then the mother will start over and begin another clutch (brood). During summer females stay in their nests, while males gather in roosts. As young Robins grow and become more independent they will go and join the males in the roosts. Adult females go to roosts only after they have finished nesting. Robin roosts can be huge, sometimes consisting of hundreds of thousands of birds during winter.

Robin's enemies are cats, large snakes, and hawks and are vulnerable to pesticide poisoning since they eat mainly on lawns. Their diet consists mainly on fruit in the autumn and winter. They have been know to become intoxicated when they feed exclusively on Honeysuckle berries. Often Robins will earth earthworms, insects and snails, in the morning, and fruit later in the day. They eat very large quantities of fruit, including hawthorn, sumac fruits, Chokecherries, dogwood, and juniper berries. As fruit and insects consist of most of their diet, Robins have to migrate in winter when food becomes scarce.

Robins, these common little birds are so typical it is easy to pay them no attention at all. But It is fun to get to know the birds in your backyard. Birdwatching is can be fascinating, and is said to be one of America's favorite past times.

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A Little Bit Of Information About Primates

What do you have in common with a chimpanzee, a mountain gorilla, and a spider monkey? You are all closely related mammals - you are primates.

As you might have already guessed there is a wide diversity among primates, but there are some traits that all share. Most primates have "opposable thumbs", which means that their thumbs can rotate to touch the fingertips on the same hand. This helps primates climb trees and grasp food. Also, primates can see in color, and their brains are generally longer than those of other mammals. They range in size from the tiny mouse lemur, which weighs only 2 ounces, to the gorilla, which can weigh 600 pounds.

The more primitive primates, called prosimians include the strange aye-aye, lemurs and the sifakas. There three-dwelling primates live on the island of Madagascar. Galagos, lorises, pottos, and tarsiers are also prosimians. Scientists believe that the earliest primates that appeared on Earth some 70 million years ago were similar to some of the mammals in this group.

The "higher" primates include marmosets, tamarins, monkeys, apes, and humans. Found only in South America, marmosets and tamarins are squirrel-sized primates that are some of nature's most spectacular mammals.

Marmosets and tamarins eat fruit, flowers, nectar, insects, frogs and spiders. They live in close family groups of between four and 15 individuals. All members of the group help raise the young - sharing food and even carrying them from time to time. It's possible that these "babysitters" are learning how to care for the offspring that they will have one day.

Most primates do not exhibit this kind of family cooperation, but some do live in smaller family groups made up of a male and female and their immature offspring. Gibbons and their cousins, the siamang monkeys, live in groups such as this. In titi monkey family groups, the male takes the lead role in caring for the young. He is the one who is in charge of feeding, protecting and carrying the infant until it is about four or five months old and mature enough to keep up with its family.

The great apes - chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas - are human beings' closest relatives. These amazing animals have many behaviors and physical characteristics that are just like ours. Apes have no tails, and they have long arms and highly developed brains. Gorillas are usually described as being of either the lowland or mountain variety. The mountain gorilla is an endangered species. Only a few hundred remain in the mountains of East Africa.

Economic Conditions Have Little to Do With Your Own Success and Well-Being

This is an important concept to grasp.

We have a tendency to look at economic conditions as a way of explaining and justifying why we may not be where we want to be. In truth, one has little or nothing to do with the other.

Your ability to succeed is totally within your control and is a result of your own thoughts, words, feelings and actions. Whatever direction the economy is moving in, whether in a downturn as it is at this time, or in an upward spiral, there are always opportunities for the individual who holds true to her vision to her ideal life.

It is this vision that will attract - through the powers of the universe - that which is vividly imagined, as Napoleon Hill would have said.

If you are watching the news and worrying about the current financial problems, while you are engaged in doing this, you are in a similar vibration and are likely to create a similar condition in your own life.

If you must stay informed about what is going on, fine. If you're going to watch the news, do so without getting emotionally invested.

Just sit back and, as you watch, think to yourself, "that's interesting." It is possible to watch the news or read a newspaper and not be emotionally connected to it.

Feeling bad for the people affected by what's taking place also puts you squarely in the same vibration. If you can do something to help, by all means, do it!

However, if not, get your attention back to your own ideal life's vision and focus your attention on what you want in your life.

You may wish to see the other people having a better experience than they are having but that's about all you can do because we each create our own reality and we can only control the circumstances in our own life.

It is crucial that in any circumstance, you're able to "flip" your attention and therefore, your "point of attraction" to that which you desire and away from that which you do not.

Notice, I did not say to try and fix it or change it, unless you can. Simply turn your attention away, toward whatever you do want.

The fastest way I know to shift your attention and, as a result, your vibration, is to make a list of what you are appreciating, what's working, or what you are grateful for in your life. This simple practice will immediately raise your vibration as a result of the change in your focus and what your putting your attention on.

It is important, especially in these challenging times, that we are watchful of our thoughts, words and actions. Keep your attention at what you desire and refuse to participate in discussions about what is wrong with our world. If you make a habit of doing this, pretty soon you will start seeing improvements in your own life.

Jim Donovan is the author of several international best-selling books and an inspiring motivational speaker. For a no cost subscription to his classic, Jim's Jems ezine, a bonus audio and special report, visit http://www.jimdonovan.com/

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My Little Girl From Glassport, Pennsylvania

As a candidate for the Pennsylvania legislature many years ago, one campaign appearance stands out above all the rest.

I knocked on thousands of doors back then, talking to voters and asking for their support. One afternoon I was trudging along house-to-house in the Fifth Ward of Glassport Borough. It was a depressed town, and many residents left after the steel mills closed in the late 1970s.

Glassport is a multi-ethnic town and residents had come to know hardship well. The neighborhoods were a series of clapboard row houses, one after another, which made it easy to campaign house-to-house.

Knocking on the door of one such home, a single mother answered with a baby girl in her arms. I introduced myself and began to give her my campaign pitch which usually ended with me asking for a vote in the upcoming election.

The woman was very polite but stood in silence and an awkward moment passed. I decided to change the subject and ask about her daughter; how old she was, and also about her well-being. The little girl seemed happy to be in her mother's arms.

She began to tell me about the serious medical problems her little daughter had faced since birth. Her baby was now one year old even though doctors told her they did not expect her to live to see her first birthday.

Looking at the two of them, and taking all this in, I stopped talking about my political campaign. We sat on the porch and talked about her daughter and about the future. The little girl had no idea what she was going through nor did she understand the prognosis of her life. She was happy and content to be in her mother's arms.

Our conversation finished, and I walked on to seek votes at the next house, a different candidate but also a different person. Running for office seemed less important to me, and it was humbling that it mattered even less to this mother and child.

Campaigning door-to-door gives you a glimpse into how people live. There are things going on outside the world of politics; more important than politics, and people are dealing with serious matters far outside the perimeters of government.

While I continued to campaign as hard as before, this one experience gave me a unique understanding of what motivates voters, and why they vote the way they do, or if they vote at all.

The little girl made me a better candidate, actually a great candidate. I learned what was important and what was not, and interacting with voters took on a different meaning. I was also impacted far beyond a campaign for office.

My life took various turns along the way, including working with many members of Congress, media personalities, captains of industry, dozens of trips in and out of the White House, and hanging out with more than one President of the United States.

Still, as heady and as gratifying as those experiences were, and in many cases, still are, I was forever changed by this one event. I am more moved by the outcomes and circumstances of individuals such as this mother and child than I am with politicians.

I do not know what kind of life, or how long a life, this little girl was ultimately given. For 30 years, not many days went by when she did not cross my mind, along with the silent hope that her life was long and that she defied the prognosis of her doctor.

I also wish she had known the impact she made on the career of a young man who came knocking on her mother's door looking for a vote - and left with much more.

Robb Austin is a former newspaper reporter and elected Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and has successfully run numerous Congressional campaigns. Learn more at http://robbaustin.com/.

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