Animals

At a shoulder height of 4.1 feet (1.25 meters), the African Wild Ass can weigh up to 605 pounds (275 kg). The ass is covered with a short coat of fur, ranging in color from gray to light brown with a white muzzle and underbelly. The legs are also white and end in a small hoof, only about the same width as the leg. There is a black stripe along the back of the ass, and the mane is short and black tipped. The ears are long and also tipped with black, and the tail has a single tuft of hair at the end.
The African Wild Ass eats plant material, often eating thorn bushes and tougher plants that other animals ignore. They need to have water at least every three days, but they are able to survive on water that is dirty and brackish and can get a lot of their moisture from the plant material that they eat.
Sexual maturity of the female ass usually happens by the time she reaches two. Males can also reproduce at two, but it is so competitive that they usually are forced to wait until they are around four. Males are very territorial and will often hold a huge territory that is about 23 km, and they mark the edges of their territories with dung.

Male has round red cap; both sexes fawn-colored with back, wings, and tail banded or cross-striped with black and white. Gray-brown head and underparts. Female similar to male in appearance except lacks red cap.
Behavior:A very conspicuous, noisy bird. Lives in nest cavities of trees and sometimes canyon foothills. May occupy the same nesting hole for more than 1 season until it is appropriated by an owl, kestrel, snake or large lizard.
Reproduction: 3-4 white eggs are laid around April to May. Incubation lasts about 14 days and is shared by both sexes. Young are fed and cared for by adults for a long time after leaving the nest. Sometimes interbreeds with golden-fronted woodpecker

They are largely diurnal or crepescular in hunting activity. They will hunt from an observation point, or will hover in the air close to the ground, pouncing on the prey, burying talons in the back and pecking viciously at the neck. Burrowing owls also catch insects in flight. They often live in permanent pair bonds, sleeping in underground burrows, sometimes with several pairs in the same area. Burrowing owls used to breed in colonies, but these have largely disappeared in recent years. Now only in suitable terrain, where food is abundant, will there be ten or more pairs in a 2-3 acre site.
Courtship begins in April with the pair sitting together, rubbing heads and issuing soft cooing sounds. Nesting begins in May, with brood sites being abandoned holes of prairie dogs, badgers, skunks, and armadillos.
The clutch has 5-9 glossy, white eggs, which both parents incubate for approximately one month. Food is brought by both parents until the young are fully fledged, usually sometime in July. Young are often found out of the burrow but near it, awaiting the parents' return with food. They are sexually mature at one year.

Roundish head with no ear tufts; yellow eyes; short bulbous beak. The legs are long and slender and covered with sparse feathers. The short hair-like feathers on the legs terminate in sparse bristles on the feet. The wings are long with the outer three primaries emarginated. The tail is very short and square. The plumage is pale to chocolate-brown, streaked and spotted with white on the back, the wings and tail barred with white. The breast and underparts are white to buff, spotted or barred with brown. The eyebrows and below the beak are white. Juvenile coloration is similar to the adult but not as heavily spotted.
Burrowing owls are very active. When perched, they may bob up and down in a series of bows or occasionally flip into the air. They are the only small owls which habitually perch on the ground. They have become so terrestrial that they are practically flightless and will often run or flatten themselves against the ground, rather than fly, when disturbed.