Short-eared Owl

Asio flammeus

Identity, life and distribution

Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus has mottled plumage and yellow eyes surrounded by dark patches. Its small ear tufts can be difficult to see; these are feathers, not the actual ears.

It hunts over grassland, marshes and other open ground, sometimes by day. Small mammals are important prey, and food availability influences its movements and breeding success.

It nests on the ground. BTO gives a typical clutch of four to seven eggs, but this does not establish local breeding wherever a wintering bird is seen. Leave resting birds a wide buffer.

A 2016 OSME-published study describes it as a very rare winter visitor and probable very rare passage migrant in Lebanon. Its scarcity there does not establish equal scarcity elsewhere, and the photograph, taken in the United States, does not document a Lebanese observation.

www.bto.org — Short-eared Owl · www.rspb.org.uk — Short-eared Owl · osme.org — Short-eared Owl

Photo: Chrissy McClarren and Andy Reago