Bird of the Week 1/6 - 1/10

short ears? or no ears?

This week’s bird is the: Short-eared Owl

1. This owl doesn’t appear to have ears… At least not what we think of as ears. But they do have internal ears, with just little openings in their head.

2. The Short-eared Owl, like many other owls, has asymmetrical ear holes. One is higher up on its head than the other.

3. Having ears positioned like this allows owls to pinpoint the location of their prey. As a species that hunts via sound, this is really important!

4. This bird loves voles. In some areas, maybe too much. So much that population numbers of the Short-eared Owls can vary dramatically with population numbers of voles.

5. GRAPHIC FACT INCOMING. You don’t want to be a vole being hunted by this bird. There is a surprising amount of research on what these birds do with their prey once they are caught… Basically there are two options. Option 1: You get swallowed whole. Option 2: You get your head “clipped off” and your “trachea and esophagus region” pulled out*. Nature is hardcore.

Have a great week!

*This comes from the Birds of the World account for this species