The Short-eared Owl occurs widely throughout North America. An owl of open country, theynest on the ground inhabiting marshes, grasslands, and tundra throughout their range. LikeSnowy Owls, Short-eared owl population dynamics are linked to cycles in their primary prey -small mammals (Holt and Leasure 1993). In the Alaskan Arctic, they typically nest on driertundra sites, usually with enough vegetation to conceal incubating females. They often forage inwet tundra habitats, though not exclusively (Holt and Leasure 1993). Short-eared Owls migrateto wintering grounds in the lower 48 and northern Mexico (Holt and Leasure 1993). The currentglobal population is estimated at 2 million (Rich et al. 2004).
