@[email protected] is singlehandedly keeping this place alive so I thought I'd also participate and share a photo I took last month. This is a burrowing owl I photographed on the grounds of a hotel in Brasilia. A couple of these guys made their burrow in a little ~~hole~~ hill at the bottom of the garden and were seemingly unbothered by hotel guests that were walking past. I have a couple of other shots but this is my favourite. Thanks for all your superb owl posts anon6789!
I was looking at your photo a few times and kept noticing how brown the face looked compared to the photos I normally see of Burrowing Owls, so I looked for a guide to subspecies.
It looks like one of the main subspecies of Brazil, A. c. grallaria, is known to have more brownish upper colorations. Here is the full description:
For the full guide, see here. It sounds like not much work has been done since many initial studies decades ago, but it's a good starting point for seeing some of the regional distinctions.
Cool I did not know that, thank you for sharing! Brasilia is somewhat 'central' so this makes sense. Here's a few more shots of the same couple.
I really like them with the tropical "tan."
That golden yellow/brown on the leading edge of the wing of the first one is extra flashy. Love it!