short-eared owl

[shawrt-eerd]

noun

a streaked, buffy brown, cosmopolitan owl, Asio flammeus, having very short tufts of feathers on each side of the head.

Origin of short-eared owl

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Also called prairie owl.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018