Short-eared Owls

The Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus) is a distinctive open-country owl named for its tiny, often invisible feather tufts — not actual ears — while its real ear openings are asymmetrically placed on the sides of its head to help locate prey by sound alone. With striking kohl-rimmed yellow eyes and long, paddle-shaped wings, it flies buoyantly and moth-like low over moorland and grassland, quartering the ground in search of voles, its favourite prey. Uniquely among British owls, it nests directly on the ground in a grass-lined scrape and is frequently active by day, especially at dawn and dusk. Males perform a wonderful aerial sky-dance, climbing high then swooping down while rhythmically clapping their wings beneath their bodies. Nomadic by nature, their numbers rise and fall with vole populations, and in winter UK residents are joined by migrants from Scandinavia and Iceland. It is also the most widespread owl on Earth, found on every continent except Antarctica, yet in the UK it remains Amber-listed due to recent population declines.