Hello,

Long-eared Owls will occasionally feed during the day. When they do, they
look very much like a Short-eared Owl. I would not be surprised if
Long-eared Owls were not often missidentified as Shore-eared Owls when
they do this, as they quarter fields in the same way. I know that all the
owls that I have seen quartering fields I taken a quick look at and
concluded that it was a Short-eared Owl.

The Long-eared Owl nest that I found this summer in Thurston County was
brought to my attention by the adult as if foraged in a large field in the
middle of the day. Had I not followed the bird to fledgelings that it was
feeding and seen the bird up close at a perch, I am sure that I would have
passed it off as Short-eared Owl. I had to look at the bird in flight long
and hard to convince myself that it was a Long-eared, even after I had
seen it at the nest and knew what was!

Russell




On Thu, 10 Dec 1998 JLRosso at aol.com wrote:

> I was hoping that the carpal mark would be a deciding factor but both species
> have the mark.
>
> I keep realizing that I have never seen a Long-earred Owl flying. I have only
> seen it roosting in trees. Somewhere in my papers I have an article that
> explained how a group of four species of owls that shared an area did not
> impose on each other by the different ways they hunted. An explanation of
> Gauss's principle. I remember that when they got to the Long-earred Owl they
> mentioned that it hunted mainly in the very dark part of the night.
> They also said that Barn Owls were capable of feeding at different times of
> the dusk or night depending on who was also feeding and when. But thats
> another story.
>
> The bird in this photo started feeding while it was fairly light out.
>
> Jim
>