Baby Burrowing Owls Hatch At Sacramento Zoo

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – The Sacramento Zoo has announced that nine Burrowing owl chicks have hatched.

In order to keep track of each chick, a little bit of coloring has been added to their heads. Only two will be kept at the zoo's burrow exhibit, the other seven will be hand-raised to eventually become "outreach animals."

The owls hatched in early May: eight hatched on May 5, one hatched a day later.

Burrowing owls earn their name because, unlike most other birds, they make their nests in the abandoned underground burrows of prairie dogs and squirrels. They are native to the Sacramento Valley, as well as parts of North and South America, and help keep rodent populations in check, according to information from the zoo.

If you're interested in seeing the baby chicks, the zoo expects them to start making appearances over the next couple of months.

For more information about Burrowing owls, visit the zoo's info page here: http://www.saczoo.org/document.doc?id=105