Short-eared Owl
Common
Name: Short-eared Owl (SEOW)
Scientific
Name:
Asio
flammeus
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: Not
on IUCN 2004 Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
Canada - Species at Risk Act (SARA) – Species of Concern; Mexico
- Normas Oficiales Mexicanas (NOM) para la Proteccion Ambiental (Official
Mexican Standards for Environmental Protection) – Threatened; U.S. –
Bird of Conservation Concern
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 62 (Holt and Leasure 1993);
USGS
Northern
Prairie
Wildlife
Research
Center
document (Dechant et al. 2003)
Distribution:
Breeds in the Hawaiian Islands (main islands from Kauai eastward),
and on Pohnpei in the Caroline Islands; in North America from n Alaska, n
Yukon, n Mackenzie, c Keewatin, s Baffin Island (probably), n Quebec, n
Labrador and Newfoundland south to the e Aleutian Islands (west to
Unalaska), s Alaska, c (casually s) California, n Nevada, Utah, ne
Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, s Illinois, w Kentucky, s Indiana, c Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and n (formerly coastal) Virginia; in the
Greater Antilles (Cuba, Cayo Coco, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico); in South
America from Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas south to Tierra del Fuego
(including the Galapogos, Juan Fernández and Falkland islands); and in
Eurasia from Iceland, the British Isles, Scandanavia, n Russia and n
Siberia south to s Europe, Afghanistan, Transbaicalia, n Mongolia, n
Manchuria, Anadyrland, Sakhalin, the n Kuril Islands and Kamchatka.
Winters
generally in the breeding range, in the Hawaiian Islands ranging casually
to the w islands (Kure, Midway, and casually east to French Frigate
Shoals); in North America and Middle America mostly from s Canada south to
s Baja California (casually to Los Coronados Islands and Isla Tiburón),
Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz, the Gulf coast, s Florida, and the Greater
Antilles and Cayman Islands; and in the Old World south to nw Africa, the
Mediterranean region, ne Africa, Asia Minor, Sri Lanka, the Malay
Peninsula, s China and Japan, casually to the Azores, e Atlantic islands,
Borneo, the Philippines and Ryukyu Islands (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Open country, including prairie, meadows, tundra, moorlands,
marshes, savanna, in the Hawaiian Islands also around towns; in winter,
primarily in open country with tall grass (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs (Number in ( ) is Physiographic Area number):
Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain Bird Conservation Plan (44); Osage
Plains Bird Conservation Plan (33); Upper Great Lakes Plain Bird
Conservation Plan (16); Colorado - Central Shortgrass Prairie Bird
Conservation Plan (36); Southern Rocky Mountains Bird Conservation Plan
(62); Nevada Bird Conservation Plan; Canadian Action Plans (Dunn 2002);
PIF Monitoring Needs document (Partners in Flight Science Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: Mo3 (species with
inadequate northern coverage)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – Improve the Christmas Bird Count (CBC) (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc); (similar) Monitor winter raptors (including
SEOW) (
Nevada
); update Christmas Bird Count analyses and evaluate quality (Canadian
Action Plan)
- Second
priority monitoring action – Conduct arctic surveys (PIF Monitoring
Needs doc)
- Third
priority monitoring action – Conduct species-specific surveys (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc); (similar) Monitor SEOW in montane parklands (
Nevada
)
- Test
response of SEOW to taped calls for possible use in surveys (Canadian
Action Plan)
- Periodically
assess status of SEOW using all available sources (Canadian Action
Plan)
- Identify
the actual locations of nesting habitat for SEOW (
Colorado
- Central Shortgrass Prairie and Southern Rocky Mts)
- see
needs under "Landscape"
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Study
the habitat requirements of this saltmarsh species suite (including
SEOW) (Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain)
- Information
on nocturnal movements of SEOW (Canadian Action Plan)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Grazing
Practices
- Determine if SEOW fledgling survival can be enhanced through
innovative grazing strategies (
Nevada
); Investigate intensive rotational grazing for opportunities for
grassland birds including SEOW (Upper Great Lakes Plain)
- Effects
of habitat management and land use on SEOW, breeding and non-breeding
(Canadian Action Plan)
Landscape
- How
do landuse and landscape patterns relate to distribution &
abundance of SEOW? How does it affect prey base? (Osage Plains)
- Identify
large areas of grasslands as targets for conservation and restoration;
apply GIS models developed for grassland birds in other ecoregions
(Upper Great Lakes Plain)
Wintering
- see
needs under “Monitoring” , “Effects of Management Practices”
and "Demography”
Demographics
- Information
on emigration/immigration and age-specific mortality, esp in winter
(Canadian Action Plan)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
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