Short-eared Owl- Asio flammeus
Family: Strigidae
Order: Strigiformes
Description: 14″ to 16″ Adult and juvenile buffy brown overall, but heavily spotted and streaked on the upperparts, including neck. Underparts are paler overall, but heavily streaked. Facial disk is round. Note staring yellow eyes and short ear tufts.
Voice: Displaying birds sometimes utter deep hoots.
Habitat: Declining but fairly common across Northeastern Canada during breeding season. Favors open tundra, marshes, undisturbed grasslands and prairie. Moves South in Fall, range extending to Southern U.S.
Nesting: The nest is a scrape in the ground lined with grass. The clutch can range from 1-11 creamy white eggs.
Range:
FYI’S: The Short-eared Owl will hunt for small mammals during daylight hours.
Female is larger and darker than male.
It is one of the most widely distributed owls in the world.
Resource material provided by:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology/ www.allaboutbirds.com
www.enature.com
I really enjoy my regualr visits to your blog! Thank you.
I wanted to make you aware that we have a snowy owl visiting Indianapolis’ east side airport. I posted a blog about it this morning: http://50littlebirds.com/
Geoff there seems to be an abundance of Snowy Owls lately. The Ohio Listserv has a couple of them up North near the lake. If the Owl sticks around that would be a great road trip in conjunction with a trip to Muscatatuck.