short-eared owl

American  

[shawrt-eerd] / ˈʃɔrtˌɪərd /

noun

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

---

Etymology

Origin of short-eared owl

An Americanism dating back to 1805–15

Example Sentences

Aside from curlew, they pose a threat to a number of native species including the Orkney vole, short-eared owl and hen harrier.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2025

At Blakeney Point in Norfolk, little terns - one species of these small seabirds - abandoned their nests, scared off by the presence of a short-eared owl and common gulls.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2021

The population of these small birds, between half a pound and a pound, has been shrinking, though their decline is not nearly as steep as that of the short-eared owl.

From New York Times • May 23, 2011

The short-eared owl is mainly a winter visitor, at least to southern and lowland Britain, and is often active during the morning or evening.

From The Guardian • Dec. 2, 2010

I afterwards found on another specimen — a short-eared owl — two or three larvae feeding on the feathers.

From Practical Taxidermy A manual of instruction to the amateur in collecting, preserving, and setting up natural history specimens of all kinds. To which is added a chapter upon the pictorial arrangement of museums. With additional instructions in modelling and artistic taxidermy. by Browne, Montagu