Short-eared Owl

Habitat: Open landscapes with water. A more or less migratory bird, which stays and breeds in areas where it can find sufficient food. When the food supply decreases, it disappears again.

Appearance: Nomadic/fragmented throughout most of Europe, including northern Europe in summer. In Belgium and the Netherlands, extremely rare to very rare breeding bird – yearling – partially migratory – passage migrant and winter visitor in extremely small to very small numbers.

Breeding season: April – August, ground nest – the short-eared owl is the only owl that can build a nest – probably a necessity in the often marshy areas where it breeds. The female breeds alone and is very faithful, laying 3-5 eggs at intervals of 2 days – in years with a surplus of mice, this number can rise to 10 or more.

Characteristics: Smaller than a buzzard, length 33–40 cm, wingspan 95–110 cm, weight 300–500 grams, lifespan 20 years.

Food: The short-eared owl searches for its prey from a moderate height using its eyes rather than its hearing. It likes to rest on stones and poles, but almost never in trees. It is mainly active at dusk. Occasionally, it will hover motionless in one place to get a better view. Its prey consists mainly of mice and lemmings. In a food-rich hunting area, it stores dead mice around its nest. In addition to these rodents, it also catches ground-dwelling birds, which it surprises mainly while they are sleeping. The short-eared owl also eats rats, hamsters and young ducks. Near seabird colonies, it specialises entirely in their chicks during the breeding season.