Overview
The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is a widespread grassland species in the family Strigidae. Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may not be visible. The short-eared owl will display its tufts when in a defensive pose, although its very short tufts are usually not visible.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Countries
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Algeria
- Andorra
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Bahamas
- Bahrain
- Bangladesh
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Bulgaria
- Cambodia
- Canada
- Cape Verde
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- Egypt
- Eritrea
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Falkland Islands
- Finland
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guam
- Guinea
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Jamaica
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Laos
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Libya
- Liechtenstein
- Luxembourg
- Maldives
- Mali
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mauritania
- Mexico
- Micronesia
- Moldova
- Mongolia
- Montenegro
- Morocco
- Myanmar
- Nepal
- Netherlands
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Pakistan
- Palestine
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Puerto Rico
- Qatar
- Romania
- Russia
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Somalia
- Spain
- Sudan
- Suriname
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Syria
- Taiwan
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Tunisia
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Uganda
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uruguay
- Uzbekistan
- Venezuela
- Vietnam
- Western Sahara
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Short-eared owl
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.
