Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)

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A Field Guide to Eastern Birds. by Roger Tory Peterson.

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Color Photographs: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)

Identification: Length from tip of bill to tip of tail 16 inches. General body coloration brown with light flecks on the top side, and light brown with heavy, vertical, dark brown streaks on the bottom. Ear-like tufts of feathers present, short, small, and commonly not visible in the wild. Face disks with dark circles around each eye.

Similar Species:  The Short-eared Owl is most likely to be mistaken for a Barred Owl. The Barred Owl is similar in coloration, but slightly larger in size. The Barred Owl, however, lacks the dark, black circles around each eye and its eyes are dark, not yellow.

Breeding Range (see map below): The Short-eared Owl has an extensive resident and breeding range covering all of Canada except for the far northern arctic islands and extending southward to the center of the United States. The species is found throughout the rest of the New World and in the Old World as well.

Overwintering Range:  This species overwinters in central and the southern United States with northern extensions into New England and California.

Habitat: The Short-eared Owl is an inhabitant of a wide variety of open areas such as grasslands, tundra, and both fresh and saltwater marshes.

Food: Primarily small mammals.

Behavior: The Short-eared Owl is most commonly seen in the late afternoon, hovering over the landscape in an irregular manner. The voice is usually silent, but while nesting it makes a collection of barks, squeals, and hisses.

Reproduction: The clutch consists of 5 to 7 white eggs. The eggs are laid in a grass-lined concave hole in the ground, the nest usually hidden in the weeds or under a bush.