14th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
Curious Burrowing Owlet in Florida

While searching in Florida for new owl burrow locations, I found this owlet who had a genetic variation. Burrowing Owls eyes are normally yellow but this one had dark brown eyes making him very unique. His personality was just as quirky as his eyes! He seemed to think I was quite interesting and spent at least a couple of minutes rotating his head. Owls do this because they cannot move their eyes so instead they move their whole heads to identify an object, person etc.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 05.2015
Date Uploaded: 11.2016
Photo Location: Cape Coral, Florida, United States of America
Camera: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Copyright: © Megan Lorenz