Short-eared owl

Short-eared owlAn owl with yellow eyes and mottled brown plumage, seen hunting over grasslands and wetlands in Britain.What does it look like?Dark feathers surround the eyes, the small ear tufts are barely visible, and the underwings are pale.Southbound routes beside mountains and across the seaShort-eared owls leaving summer areas in Alaska can travel far south in autumn. Most tracked birds followed routes east of the Rocky Mountains, while others followed the coast to the west. One crossed approximately 850 kilometres of open water over the Gulf of Alaska.Researchers fitted 26 adult owls with satellite transmitters in western and interior Alaska in 2009 and 2010. For the seven whose first autumn migrations were tracked to completion, travel distances were approximately 3,205–6,886 kilometres. Stopover landscapes included grasslands, shrublands and croplands.Winter behaviour also varied. Of five owls tracked for all or part of winter, four remained within a radius of less than 20 kilometres, while one moved among sites within a 100-kilometre radius. The records contained both relatively sedentary birds and one that continued to move over a wider area.Keeping it safeAn extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.Canada’s 2021 assessment describes losses of short-eared owl grassland and wetland habitat in the south through agricultural development and urban expansion. Mowing and harvesting can harm ground-laid eggs and flightless young in agricultural fields. The North American tracking study calls for a continental perspective on conserving widely scattered open habitats. Conservation needs to encompass stopovers and wintering areas as well as breeding grounds.