While a burrowing owl can hear a beetle or grasshopper in flight over 100 yards away, vision is just as important as hearing for hunting. This owl scans for prey from atop its burrow mound and can hover to search for prey. In the winter burrowing owls may live in communal burrows. When living in these communal burrows, burrowing owls stock-pile food for times of sever weather and for when prey may be unavailable. This food is used for communal survival.
Prey includes insects, small mammals, birds, lizards, small non-venomous snakes, and small fish.
Unbroken, expansive, treeless prairies and virgin plains are the most preferred nesting grounds. These owls detest cultivated lands and arid desert regions. Burrowing owls have the odd habit of collecting odds and ends then laying them out around the entrance hallway of their burrow. Also these owls do not coexist with rattlesnakes or prairie dogs. Natural enemies include weasels, ferrets, skunks, opossums, snakes, and armadillos.