Birds · Strigiformes · Strigidae

Short-eared Owl

Asio flammeus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

The short-eared owl, known in Spanish as lechuza campestre, lechuzón de pajonal or nuco, is one of the nocturnal raptors with the most daytime activity. It lives in open country, unworked grassland, marshes, farmland, heathland and above all coastal marshes. Its numbers in any given area depend above all on the availability of prey. It is often seen hanging in the air, though without truly hovering, looking for rodents among the tall grass.

Weight

200 g – 475 g

Size

34 cm – 43 cm

Lifespan

12 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Activity

Crepuscular

Active above all at dawn and dusk.

Social structure

In pairs

Usually lives in pairs, sometimes for life.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

TundraFreshwaterGrasslandIslandsCarnivore Crepuscular In pairs Bird Tundra Freshwater Grassland Islands

54countries 130parks18same family

Fun facts

GeneralOne of the few owls that hunts by day and nests on the ground, in the grass.
It is one of the owls that has travelled furthest: it colonised Hawaii, the Galápagos, the Falkland Islands and dozens of oceanic islands under its own steam, and on some of them gave rise to subspecies or species of their own.
It is one of the few owls that nests on the ground, in a simple scrape among the grass, and one of the few that hunts in full evening light.
Its populations are nomadic and follow the vole cycles: in a plague year dozens of pairs can gather in an area where there was not a single one the year before.