A short-eared owl on Seedskadee NWR has just caught a meadow vole during the last light of dusk. It looks around cautiously for a few minutes to determine if any other predators have noticed its success, before starting to eat. As the temperatures will drop well below zero this night, a full meal of a meadow vole will help it to maintain body condition for another night.
Photo: Tom Koerner/USFWS
Date 24 December 2015, 18:22
Source Short-Eared Owl on Seedskadee NWR
Author USFWS Mountain-Prairie
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Short-Eared_Owl_on_Seedskadee_NWR_(23404826353).jpg

The short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is a species of typical owl (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. Asio flammeus will display its tufts when in a defensive pose, although its very short tufts are usually not visible. The short-eared owl is found in open country and grasslands. The scientific name is from Latin. The genus name Asio is a type of eared owl, and flammeus means "flame-coloured". The short-eared owl occurs on all continents except Antarctica and Australia; thus it has one of the most widespread distributions of any bird.