{"id":3347,"date":"2020-10-07T12:15:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T12:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/?p=3347"},"modified":"2020-10-07T19:11:49","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T19:11:49","slug":"__short-earedowl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/biol325\/2020\/10\/07\/__short-earedowl\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ankle Breaker: Short-eared Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

An Introduction to the Short-eared Owl<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The sun is shinning and you are done with being in your house all day staring at your computer screen. You decide to take a walk outside to the grassland behind your house. As you are walking along, you stumble and fall to the ground. You look back and see a hole in the ground, you have no idea what it might be. So you continue to hobble along with your sore ankle and see a Short-eared Owl in the distance sitting in the grass. When you go back to your house, you search Short-eared Owls and realize that the hole you tripped on was their nest (thankfully it was a nest from the year previous and you did not crush any eggs). From that day forward you referred to the Short-eared Owl as ankle breaker. Please be careful when walking in grasslands, both for your sake and for the owls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 1: A Short-eared Owl among the long grass. Photo by: Luke Delve<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

DESCRIPTION AND IDENTIFICATION<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n

The Short-eared Owl (Asio <\/em>flam<\/i>meus)<\/em> is a member of the Order Strigiformes and Family Strigida (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). <\/em>The meaning of flammeus<\/em>, is \u201cfiery\u201d and it refers to the boldly streaked plumage (American Bird Conservancy<\/a>). The English name of the Short-eared Owl comes from the two small feather tuffs on the top of it’s head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Short-eared Owls are medium-sized owls with round heads. They have broad wings with rounded tips and a short tail. The plumage on Short-eared Owls is brown spotted with buff (light brown) and white on the upperparts. They have yellow eyes with black outlines and a pale face. The chest and belly of Short-eared Owls are pale and they have a heavily streaked brown chest. The underwing of Short-eared Owls is pale with a dark-comma shaped mark near the wrist (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 2: A Short-eared Owl showing it’s short feather tuffs. Photo by: On the Wing Photography<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

HABITAT AND DISTRIBUTION<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Short-eared Owls are found in various parts of the world, including North and South America, Europe, Asia and on oceanic islands. (American Bird Conservancy<\/a>). In North America, the Short-eared Owl can be seen year round in a strip in the middle of the continent, due to the overlap between the breeding and wintering range (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). In the winter, the number of Short-eared Owls in an area depends on the abundance of food. Often they will have communal roosts and up to 200 birds have been recorded (American Bird Conservancy<\/a>). <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Figure 3: Distribution of Short-eared Owls in North America. Photo from: Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting Fact:<\/span><\/em> The only native owl in Hawaii is a subspecies of the Short-eared Owl called the pueo (Asio flameus sandwichensis<\/em>). Pueos have been thought to descend from the Alaska forebears and that they claimed the islands when Polynesians brought Pacific rats, which were a food sources for the pueos (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 4: Pueo (Asio flammeus sandwichensis<\/em>), the only native owl in Hawaii sitting on a fence post. Photo by: Jack Wolford (Hawai\u2019i Magazine)<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Short-eared Owls live in low vegetation areas with large, open spaces, which include prairie and coastal grasslands, heathlands, meadows, savanna, tundra, marshes, dunes and agricultural areas. In the winter, Short-eared Owls live within woodlots, fields, fresh and saltwater marshes, gravel pits, and rock quarries (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GENERAL BEHAVIOUR<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Short-eared Owls are active mainly during low-light conditions (dawn and dusk) and roost in trees, making Short-eared Owls easier to spot than most owls; however, it is still hard to see them (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a> and Audubon<\/a>). These owls are able to maneuver in the air and drop quickly to capture prey. Short-eared Owls mainly eat birds and small mammals, in particular mice and vole.\u00a0Short-eared Owls are also able to soar using their long, broad wings. The ability to soar is beneficial for migratory travel of these owls (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NESTING BEHAVIOUR<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Short-eared Owls make their nests on the ground in a dry area within grasses and low plants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interesting Fact:<\/span><\/em> The Short-eared Owl is one of the only owls that constructs it’s own nest. The nest consists of a bowl dug out of the ground that is covered in grasses and downy feathers from the owl. The average size of a nest is ten inches across and two inches deep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clutch size of Short-eared Owls is between 1-11 eggs and they usually have 1-2 broods a year (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). The incubation time is done by the female owl and is between 24-37 days (Audubon<\/a>). The male will feed brooding females and provided protection for the nest by being a distraction through displays and vocalizations (Cornell University: All About Birds<\/a>). Young will leave the nest on foot around 12-18 days after being hatched and can fly around after 27-36 days (Audubon<\/a>). By leaving the nest earlier the amount of time the young are vulnerable to predators is reduce (American Bird Conservancy<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Figure 5: A Mother Short-eared Owl and one of her babies coming out of the nest a little ways. Photo by: Feathered Photography<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The behaviour of Short-eared Owls, like many species, varies during breeding season. In breeding season, the owls are active all day and night. Breeding Short-eared Owls will roost in the tall grass on the ground. These owls are colonial breeders which means they breed in larger groups, but they breed with only one mate per season. The male Short-eared Owls perform sky dances to try and attract the attention of the female. Sky dances consist of singing, wing-clapping and aerial movements. I had a hard time finding a good video where you could hear and see the wing-clapping. The following video is a brief introduction to Short-eared Owls, but at approximately the 1:13 mark there is a great shot of a male doing wing-clapping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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