Courtesy Preview
To view this account in its entirety (complete life history articles, audio, video, photo content and full references), you will need to sign in with your subscription account information. You can subscribe online and gain immediate access to this additional information in this species account.
Measurements
Linear
Total Length
In Europe, total length of males 340–415 mm, mean 373, n = 36; females 340–423 mm, mean 382, n = 28 (Mikkola 1983).
Wing Length
Museum specimen data using natural (unflattened) wing chord measurement: males 279–307 mm, mean 295.7, n = 34; females 280–311, mean 297.1, n = 44; no significant differences between the sexes (Earhart and Johnson 1970). In Europe, 950–1100 mm (Cramp 1985). A sample of live females captured at nests in Montana had a mean natural wing chord of 292.3 ± 11.0, range, 267–314 mm (n = 28; DWH and SML).
Tail Length
A sample of live females captured at nests in Montana had a mean tail length of 157.3 ± 4.9, range 152–167 (n = 12; DWH and SML). Data needed on males.
Bill Length
In North America: males mean 16.4 mm, n = 20; females mean 16.6, n = 20 (Snyder and Wiley 1976).
Mass
Based on museum data: females, mean 378 g (range 284475, n = 27); males, mean 315 g (206363, n = 20; Earhart and Johnson 1970). Body mass of incubating and brooding females from Montana: mean 411.8 ± 48.8 (SD) (range 333553 g, n = 28; DWH and SML). No data available on seasonal differences in body mass of live individuals.
Wiggins, D. A., D. W. Holt and S. M. Leasure. 2006. Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/062
