Short-Eared Owl

Short-Eared Owl

(Asio flammeus)

  • Size: 13.4-16.9" long // 33.5-40.5" Wingspan
  • Diet: shrews, moles, lemmings, rabbits, pocket gophers, bats, rats, weasels, and muskrats
  • Seasonal Habits: Non Migratory
  • Temperament: Not Aggressive

This open-country hunter is one of the world's most widely distributed owls, and among the most frequently seen in daylight. Don't look too eagerly for the ear tufts, which are so short they're often invisible. More conspicuous features are its black-rimmed yellow eyes staring out from a pale facial disk. These birds course silently over grasslands on broad, rounded wings, especially at dawn and dusk. They use acute hearing to hunt small mammals and birds.