Short-eared Owl

Asio flammeusOrder: STRIGIFORMES Family: True Owls (Strigidae)

Codes: Common Name: SEOW Scientific Name: ASIFLA ITIS Taxonomic No.: 177935

Head

Topo Map: Owl-like Head

Bill Shape: Hooked
Eye Color: Typically bright yellow, but black-brown is also documented in one adult bird.
Head Pattern: Eyeline, Striped, Crested or plumed, Streaked, Special (unique patterns or features)
Crown Color: White, brown, and buff mottling.
Forehead Color: White facial disk with dark border.
Nape Color: Pale red-brown with dark streaking.
Throat Color: Buff with dark brown streaking.
Cere color: Brown

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Body

Topo Map: Owl-like Body

Length Range: 33-43 cm (13-17 in)
Weight: 315 g (11.1 oz)
Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
Color: White, Brown, Black, Buff
Underparts: Pale buff with dark streaking and buff upper breast with bold streaking.
Upperparts: Pale and dark brown mottling.
Back Pattern: Spotted or speckled, Striped or streaked
Belly Pattern: Striped or streaked
Breast Pattern: Striped or streaked

Flight

Topo Map: Owl-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Bouyant flight., Erratic flight with flopping wing beats.
Wingspan Range: 91-112 cm (36-44 in)
Wing Shape: Long-Wings
Tail Shape: Squared Tail
Tail Pattern: Brown overall with faint spotting.
Upper Tail: Buff with pale brown barring.
Under Tail: Buff-white
Leg Color: Feathered in white.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared Owl: Medium owl, light and dark brown mottled upperparts and dark-streaked, pale buff underparts. Head has large, round, pale buff facial disk with fine, brown tinges, black around eyes, and small ear tufts. Eyes are yellow and bill is black. Flight is erratic with flopping wing beats.

● Song: "voo-hoo-hoo", "kee-ow"

● Foraging & Feeding: Short-eared Owl: Eats voles, mice, shrews, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, pocket mice, moles, rats, small rabbits, and muskrats; also takes small birds and large insects; forages mostly at night.

● Breeding & nesting: Short-eared Owl: Lays three to eleven white eggs in a ground nest lined with grass and downy feathers; nest is usually built on a slight ridge or mound with enough vegetation for concealment. Female incubates eggs for 25 to 29 days.

● Similar species: Short-eared Owl: Long-eared Owl has a smaller "wrist" patch, buff underwings, and a darker belly. Burrowing Owl is much smaller and has a pale bill.

Flight Pattern

Bouyant flight., Erratic flight with flopping wing beats.

● Range & Habitat: Short-eared Owl: Occurs on every continent except Australia and Antarctica; prefers open spaces such as grasslands, prairies, agricultural fields, salt marshes, estuaries, mountain meadows, and tundra.

^BreedingMonogamous, Sometimes forms small colonies

^PopulationFairly common, Declining

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight11.1 Ounces

Owl-like Head

Owl-like Body

Owl-like Flight

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Short-eared Owl

Head

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Body

Flight

Short-eared Owl

Flight Pattern