Owl ID?

[Nate McVey]

While sitting on the couch last night, I heard a very loud crow in the pine out front. It sounded as if it was hurt or fighting so I went out on the porch to see what it was (with out my camera of course). When I got out there, this guy and a crow were tustling on the ground. I ran back in the house to get the camera, but when I got out there he was the only one left. Anyone tell me what kind?

[Jim Almquist]

I am by no means a expert but from looking at my Sibley guide I would say it is a adult female Short-eared Owl. I did stay at a Holiday Inn once

[bmc]

I looked in my Birds of MN field guide which only has 3 owl species in it? We must have more than that around. I think this is a great horned owl, but there I go thinking again! All I can say is I don't ever, ever wanna be on the receiving end of those claws!!!

Brian

[Jim Almquist]

Brian I looked in the Birds of Mn. first and thought it was strange that it was not in there but it is migrating thru. From the looks of the map it winters in Iowa and further south and summers in Canada,NWT and Alaska. One other thing about the Birds of Mn. it is missing the Spruce Grouse.

[JayinMN]

I am torn between a great horned and a long eared. It looks somewhat small in the picture for a horned owl, but I am not sure if a long eared owl would take on a crow. There is not a lot of size difference btween the two, that doesn't mean much though. How big was this bird? Great horned owls are well known for preying on crows at night and very common even in cities, so if I had to put my money on it I guess I would go with a great horned owl.

[Nate McVey]

I was under the impression that the Great Horned Owl was a bit bigger than this guy. I did some searches on owlpagesdotcom, but I can't find anything that looks like this. Maybe it's a juvenile or female?

My first thought when I was looking at it from the stairs (about 5 ft. away) was him sinking those claws into me.

Thanks for the info. Hopefully he comes back tonight (but I doubt it)

[Steve Foss]

It is as Jim said a short-eared owl. No doubt at all. The shape of the face alone separates if from the long-eared. Also, by lightening the image in Photoshop, it's very easy to see the short curved ears, which field mark separates the species from the long-eared and the horned. This one most closely resembles an adult female. Short-eared owls are not uncommon in the area during spring and fall migration periods.

Great find, Nate.

[Nate McVey]

Thanks ST, I've never had the oppourtunity to see an owl that close. It was a neat experience.

[AnnieOnOsakis]

I hate to jump in to this thread so late, but I think this owl is a long-eared rather than a short-eared. With short-eareds, the feather tufts are very small--shorter than the height of the eye, even when the bird has them erect (which most of the time they do not). They also have a streaked breast and lower belly without horizontal barring. The owl pictured has much longer ear tufts--longer than the eyes are high--although they are laid back against the head somewhat. But what really stands out for me is the horizontal barring on the belly feathers that are very visible on the side of the bird in the picture.

I've seen both species up close--in hand, in fact--and I'd be willing to bet that the bird pictured is a long-eared owl.

[Steve Foss]

Annie, welcome to FM. Great to have you here.

I've been wrong before and could be wrong here. The fact that I have no doubt about my ID doesn't make it right, just means I have no doubts.

Maybe it would be instructive if I pull off the image, re-tone it to make it brighter so the field marks are more apparent and re-post it. It's far more important to get an ID right than it is to defend a position, so if you are certain upon viewing this that it's a long-eared, cool.

Here's the re-post. Opinions? I've submitted the image to Birder's World magazine for their ID.

[Nate McVey]

Steve, if I can't post this link go ahead and pull it:

Here is the identification I was using to help:

http://www.owlinstitute.org/owls/shortear.html

http://www.owlinstitute.org/owls/longear.html

It sure seems like the description of the shortear fits better. I have some other pics so I will see if any show more distinguishing marks.

[Nate McVey]

[Steve Foss]

It looks like Jay was on the right track from the start, and Annie is correct. The Birder's World experts say the ears are too long for a short-eared, not long enough for fully extended long-eared ears, but the heavy streaking tips the balance to long-eared.

Jay and Annie, thanks for that input, and I'll happily stand corrected. No doubt at all.

[Nate McVey]

Thanks for the feedback, obviously I was clueless.

[Steve Foss]

Me too.