Page 245 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

OWLS
Order Strigiformes Family Strigidae Species Asio flammeus
Short-eared Owl
large, round head
with tiny tufts
dark wingtips usually hidden
whitish underwings
row of pale with narrow dark
spots along bar at angle blackish ring
sides of back around large,
cold yellow eye

complex buff
marbling on
dark wrist upperparts
patch
white white
trailing orange-buff belly
edge to yellowish
outer wings
IN FLIGHT
buff-white
underside
with fine
FLIGHT: low, wavering, quite quick, with slow dark streaks
beats of stiff wings, quite high upstroke; floating,
banking glides.
ne of the owls most likely to be
Oseen by day, the Short-eared Owl
hunts like a harrier, flying low over
open ground, often in good light well
before dusk. Its numbers and
distribution reflect the fluctuating
numbers of voles. It may appear for
a year or two in suburban areas where
fields are neglected in advance of
development, but is more frequent on FLOATING HUNTER
coastal marshes and, in summer, over Its long wings and light weight make the Short-
upland moors and young conifer eared Owl remarkably buoyant when hunting.
plantations. It is easily confused with
the Long-eared Owl in flight but Long-eareds are more strictly nocturnal.
VOICE Nasal bark,kee-aw,or hoarse,whip-like ke-ow;song deep,soft,quick booming
hoot, boo-boo-boo-boo in display flight.
NESTING Unlined scrape on ground; 4–8 eggs; 1 or 2 broods;April–July.
FEEDING Hunts by flying slowly over ground or watching from perch; eats small
rodents and some birds. OCCURRENCE
Widespread through Europe,
SIMILAR SPECIES mostly in N but erratically in S,
largely linked with variations in
TAWNY OWL HEN HARRIER 2; prey populations. In all kinds of
orange- see p.239 black see p.133
red eye eye rough grassland, marshes, heaths,
upland moors, and plantations;
shorter many temporary habitats occupied
grey wings
hindwings opportunistically when large
longer more numbers of voles present.
LONG-EARED OWL tail uniform
very similar in flight; above Seen in the UK
see p.242 J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 34–42cm (13 1 ⁄2–16 1 ⁄2in) Wingspan 90–105cm (35–41in) Weight 260–350g (9–13oz)
Social Small flocks Lifespan 10–15 years Status Vulnerable†
243