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Incidental take permits by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) are required when a Burrowing Owl burrow will be impacted by clearing or construction. These permits are issued only for burrows that are inactive. The typical breeding season for Burrowing Owls is 15 February-10 July. This project had 4 chronology-related objectives: 1) estimate the percentage of burrows in south Florida that became active prior to 15 February, 2) identify the range of dates when nesting was initiated, 3) estimate the percentage of burrows occupied by adult owls prior to 15 February, and 4) estimate the percentage of decorated burrows that were active. A fifth objective was to determine if the burrow lengths of Burrowing Owls in south Florida are comparable to those in the published literature. We scoped 89 burrows at four sites from 30 November 2007 to 14 February 2008. Only 4.4% (n = 4) of the burrows were active (contained eggs or flightless chicks). Burrow lengths ranged from 0.3 m to 3.2 m with a mean length of 2.05 m. This study found less than a 5% probability of a burrow being active between the 30 November and 14 February so the risk of encountering an active burrow while executing an FWC incidental take permit during this period is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]