The Short-eared Owl is one of the few owls that people regularly see in daylight, for it hunts in the open over grasslands and marshes at dusk and dawn, and often on gray winter afternoons. Streaky tawny-brown with a pale facial disk and staring yellow eyes, it flies low on long, broad wings with a distinctive loose, floppy, moth-like flight, quartering back and forth over the fields much like a Northern Harrier. The "short ears" are small feather tufts, usually flattened and rarely visible.
Short-eared Owls hunt voles and other small mammals in open country, dropping onto prey they locate by sight and sound, and their numbers rise and fall with rodent abundance. They breed on the ground in extensive grasslands and marshes and are a species of conservation concern where such habitat has been lost, but in Michigan they are best known as winter visitors, when birds from the north join local ones over open fields, airports, and marshes. On a winter evening, several may course over the same field, sometimes clashing in the air.
Feeds mainly on small mammals, above all voles, along with mice and some small birds, hunting by coursing low over open ground and dropping onto prey detected by sight and sound. Its numbers and breeding success track vole abundance, and it hunts most actively at dusk, dawn, and on overcast days.
Yes. The Short-eared Owl regularly hunts in the open at dusk and dawn and on gray afternoons, coursing low over fields and marshes. Its floppy, moth-like flight over open country in daylight is a good way to recognize it.
Both hunt low over open ground, but the Short-eared Owl has a big round head, a pale facial disk, and long broad wings with a floppy wingbeat, while the harrier is slimmer with a white rump patch and steadier flight. They often hunt the same fields.
Mainly in winter over grasslands, marshes, airports, and open fields, when birds from the north join local ones. A small number also breed on the ground in extensive open habitat in the state.
Owlets, and they leave the ground nest on foot at about two weeks, well before they can fly, scattering into the surrounding grass while the parents keep feeding them. Juveniles show a dark face with a pale surround.
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