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Short eared Owls (1 Viewer)

Not so sure they hold territories as such I have seen 3 hunting on the same field at Saint mary's Island and they ignored each other totaly.
 
I think they tend to wander in Winter & often gather at sites where vole levels are high. I've seen accumulations of 4 or 5 birds at times in some of the better lowland coastal sites such as Aberlady in East Lothian but have never seen any territorial interaction- only complete indifference between passing birds!
 
steviewol said:
To what extent do Short eared owls hold winter territories, if any, in non-breeding winter locations..... ?

S
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It's a misnomer that Short Ears migrate to non-breeding locations. i.e. to the coast. I'd agree that they do migrate, if that's the word, but only to where they can survive, for example lower altitudes.

Short Eared Owls IMHO do not need to hold territories in Winter, but in the breeding season it's another matter!

CB
 
I have occasionally seen birds displaying in the winter on the Nene Washes near Peterborough (no regular breeding). This has been when two birds are close together. But most of the time they seem to tollerate other birds around. The washes held at least 53 birds in 2002/3. The most seen hunting "together" was 21 and there was one communal roost with a maximum of 28 birds. Numbers are very low this winter.
 
This winter we have had upto 13 birds at once at Marshide in Southport. Numbers here often fluctuate depending on tidal and weather conditions. The birds do not appear to be territorial at all and often hunt quite close together in small groups of 3 or 4 birds. Although birds are seen occasionally in summer, it is pre-dominantly a wintering only area for Short Ears.

Regards

Mal
 
You guys who regularly watch owls, is this twilight time that you watch them hunting? As I don't think I have ever seen owls flying other than after 5 pm in summertime. 3.30 ish in wintertime, and have never seen more than a solitary bird, except fortunate enough to see 3 Tawny Owlets all sitting fluffed up on an Oak tree branch one summers morning.
 
Bob, Are there no breeding SEOs in the Cheshire Peaks? -here in the hills of Central Scotland we are treated to wingclapping displays & boundary flights/ posturing,etc in Spring -potentially at almost any time of the day. In one area just off the Campsie Fells a friend had 4 different males displaying in adjacent territories last year.
 
jayhunter said:
You guys who regularly watch owls, is this twilight time that you watch them hunting? As I don't think I have ever seen owls flying other than after 5 pm in summertime. 3.30 ish in wintertime, and have never seen more than a solitary bird, except fortunate enough to see 3 Tawny Owlets all sitting fluffed up on an Oak tree branch one summers morning.
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SEOs are the one owl that can be regularly seen flying during the whole of the day.
 
jayhunter said:
You guys who regularly watch owls, is this twilight time that you watch them hunting? As I don't think I have ever seen owls flying other than after 5 pm in summertime. 3.30 ish in wintertime, and have never seen more than a solitary bird,

Bob

At present you can see Short Ears at almost any time of the day at Marshide. The time they start hunting can depend on previous weather patterns, such as high winds and rain, and on coastal estuaries it can also depend upon tide times. My last two visits have been succesful at midday. We also often see Barn Owls on the Lancashire Mosslands at this time of year in the early afternoons.

Mal
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As has been said in previous threads regarding the Winter territories of Raptors, and Short-eared Owls are no exception. Most SEO's are upland pasture / moorland hunters, their prey during the colder months in these areas is usually very scarce so the birds move to areas where prey is more abundant. Coastal marsh land, fen, reedbeds, rough grazing fields, scrub areas and new forestry seem to be the preferred Winter habitat.

SEO's will generally hunt throughout the day but have peak hunting times of just before dusk and at first light in the morning. Owls will hunt and store kills in a larder for use when the hunting is not so good, this is observed more easily during the breeding season when young of varying ages are in the nest. Prey items, mainly voles are brought in in rapid succession, too quickly to have been hunted and killed just before they were brought to the nest.
 
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steviewol said:
Many thanks for imput, but my Question was quite specific.......

Thanks Brianstone.
Late afternoon, on monday i watched 3 Seo's in their usual wintering site on the outskirts of Sunderland.

One of the owls landed on the top of a 3m Alder tree, its location was half way between the other 2 hunting birds.
From its vantage point it watched them both, twisting its head through many degrees.
After a minute this bird began to call (a single note repeated every couple of seconds 'ru-ow' 'ru-ow' ) (i haven't previously heard this away from breeding grounds)
The calling lasted 3mins with 4 or 5 pauses.

During this the hunting bird closest to me ceased hunting & perched openly, facing the vocal owl.

The 3rd owl continued to hunt seemingly unconcerned & moved away out of view.

When it finished calling, the bird took off & wing clapped 4 or 5 times & flew off (being lost to view) in the direction of the other flying bird
For the last 10 or so calls the vocal bird only ever faced the flying bird.
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A specific answer is: They don't defend a wintering territory. IMHO.

Probably the birds observed by Brian are a "family" i.e Parents & their last reared young that have not yet dispersed.

CB
 
Many thanks for imput, but my Question was quite specific.......

Thanks Brianstone.
Late afternoon, on monday i watched 3 Seo's in their usual wintering site on the outskirts of Sunderland.

One of the owls landed on the top of a 3m Alder tree, its location was half way between the other 2 hunting birds.
From its vantage point it watched them both, twisting its head through many degrees.
After a minute this bird began to call (a single note repeated every couple of seconds 'ru-ow' 'ru-ow' ) (i haven't previously heard this away from breeding grounds)
The calling lasted 3mins with 4 or 5 pauses.

During this the hunting bird closest to me ceased hunting & perched openly, facing the vocal owl.

The 3rd owl continued to hunt seemingly unconcerned & moved away out of view.

When it finished calling, the bird took off & wing clapped 4 or 5 times & flew off (being lost to view) in the direction of the other flying bird
For the last 10 or so calls the vocal bird only ever faced the flying bird.

I would presume that this owl was acting & re-acting to the prescence of its neighbours.
The birds arrived back at the end of the summer (1st one last wek of August), so they would have had time to sort out any disputes over the last 4 months?

This is the first 'interaction' i've seen at This Site between Seo's, but have twice had good views of seperate Short eareds harrassing Long eareds.
On one occassion forcing it twice to land on fence posts after striking it in mid air, the other the aireal pursuit was even-stevens with the Leo making off into dense scrub.
Both these confrontations were in winter & within the Leo's home range, infact adjacent to one of the Leo;s display flight areas.

I have skimmed through one reference book & work by Clark 1975,USA, would suggest Seo-Seo competion & territorial skirmishes in winter.

I'm going to do some more research & hopefully i can get some more, positive info.

Regards Stevie.
 
Hello Satrow
I'm a Great believer in :- "just because you dont see a species, Doesn't mean it isn't there !!"
But i would hope we would have seen them through the summer evenings, as we do with hunting Leo's....but you never know....i like your theory & will bear it in mind this year.

The area is lowland (50m asl) much of it is areas of rough grass & part of the recent planted Great N.Forest, also some permanent grazing & some hay.

The local Long eared roost has held an incredible 21 ! birds, i would have thought an area which holds that much winter prey (admittedly much will be passerines) that it can hold more than just Leo & Kestrel.....only time tell if we have lowland breeding Seo too!

The 'returning' bird i had in August, came in high from the West (nearest 'known' breeding sites are 20km away on the moors) i asumed this was 'freshly in', maybe it was...
But both eared species often gain a lot of height to avoid corvids, so you've Definately got me thinking now !!

Thanks Ste Evans
 
Cheers you guys I will have to keep my eyes peeled, my loacal patch is hills and valleys split by a quite busy arterial road that is quite busy. About five miles up the road I have some wide open moorland, maybe worth a trip in the late afternoon, for a few hours. But past trips haven't really seen much in the way of wildlife, not even road kills.
 
All Owl species are known to mate for life, it's possible that 2 of the SEO's in question were a pair still on their local patch. The attachment is not so strong outside the breeding season, but where a pair are occupying a breeding territory throughout the Winter months some pair bonding will still occur. Mutual hunting and feeding has also been observed where a pair of birds are still in occupation of a breeding territory.
 
Hello nirofo et al,
I never knew owls could pair for life, excellent!
I've more experience of Leo than Seo & have seen pairs of Leos hunting 'as a team', but not Seo's so far. I shall look out for this !

I shall get some digital photos of the location this weekend, so you can see the area in question.

Many thanks for your imput & interest.

Steve
 
Some owls do mate for life, e.g. Tawny Owls, but not Short-eareds: from BWP:
Pair-bond of seasonal duration (Glutz & Bauer 1980); bond between individual birds probably not renewed in successive years (D E Glue).
Click to expand...
Not too surprising for such a nomadic species with low natal fidelity, moving around so extensively in response to a variable food resource. Unless a pair travelled together, their chances of meeting each other again are minuscule; and there's nothing to suggest that they do.

Michael
 
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