WNJ Exclusive: The Flight of the Short-eared Owl


Photos courtesy of Christine Fusco

by Christine Fusco

There is little reason to doubt yourself if you observe the flight of a Short-eared Owl.  Their flight for prey is distinctive and purposeful.  In the early morning they fly just feet above the marshes and open meadowlands of New Jersey and will begin again just before dusk.  When they hover for a few short seconds, they are getting ready to pounce on their prey of field mice, rodents, or sometimes even a bird.  As we continue to expand and pave over wetlands, the Short-eared Owl will remain on the Concerned or Endangered Species list.

 

The male’s courtship flight includes audible wing clapping to attract and impress the female.  Typically the female will form a cup like depression in the ground to lay 4 to 9 eggs.  She will sit on the nest alone until the eggs are hatched and all are fledged in approximately 30 days.  The young will stay within close range of the nest entertaining each other to learn the habitat they have been born into. 

The Short-eared Owl has also been called a Bog Owl, Flat-faced Owl, Grass Owl, and Marsh Owl.  They are a medium sized bird from 13 to 17 inches tall with a wing span of 39 to 44 inches.  Their name comes from their ears, which appear as two tufts of feathers above piercing yellow creamed eyes.  Their eyes are surrounded by rounds disks of brown and tan colored feathers to form that ever so wise owl face.
 
Unfortunately the Short-eared Owl is only a winter resident of our coastal New Jersey. 
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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 2/6/2012 7:00 AM
Categories: WNJ Exclusives
Tags: Short-eared Owl birds flight prey mice rodents
 

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