You can find three owl species in Maine. No, make that four. No, five. OK, maybe 10.
Four species nest in Maine — great horned owl, barred owl, northern saw-whet owl and eastern screech-owl.
Two species possibly nest here — short-eared owl and long-eared owl — but these two are rarely encountered in summer.
Four species occasionally visit from the north in winter months — snowy owl, great gray owl, northern hawk-owl and (rarely) boreal owl.
So far, this hasn’t been a great winter for spotting snowy owls. But it’s not bad, either. There have been multiple sightings in York and Cumberland counties, and several in Hancock County.
Snowy owls prefer frozen marshes along the coast that remind them of their home on the Arctic tundra.
Short-eared owls also like frozen coastal marshes, yet only three have been reported in Maine so far this winter. I think there are likely more. I think birders don’t look for them enough.
I took the lazy way out. I spent three days at Parker River National Wildlife Refuge in Newburyport, Massachusetts, where short-eared owls are regularly seen in winter. I found two.
Most owls are woodland creatures, preferring a perch-and-pounce method of hunting. They simply sit in a good viewing spot, and wait for something to move.
Short-eared owls prefer flat open areas, and hunt like northern harrier hawks. Both fly slowly over marshes and fields, and pounce on prey from overhead. In fact, their hunting styles are so similar that they often occupy the same space. Harriers fly by day. Owls hunt by night, almost.
Short-eared owls are typically crepuscular, which means they often hunt in the dim light around dawn and dusk. Near the Arctic Circle, they hunt in broad daylight. What choice do they have, in the land of the midnight sun?
So the first clue you’re watching a short-eared owl is when you see a hawk-sized bird floating in air, drifting slowly over a frozen marsh or field, hunting.
The trick is to not be fooled by a northern harrier, which is slightly bigger. Harriers are common breeders in Maine. A few harriers spend the winter here, usually along the coast.
Since short-eared owls and northern harriers hunt the same way for the same food in the same places, I always wondered how they got along.
They don’t. Just before sunset at Parker River, the owl and the hawk were out over the marsh together. As I watched, the owl dove and took a swipe at the hawk, and then another, and then a third. In a mere 15 seconds, the owl drove the harrier out of its hunting space. Despite being smaller, the owl is more maneuverable — and apparently crabbier.
The short-eared is one of the few owl species that nests on the ground. It’s also one of the few that builds its own nest. Smaller owls nest in cavities, while larger owls often take over the nests of other birds. For instance, great horned owls will commandeer the nests of ospreys and great blue herons.
You’d think a short-eared owl would be easy to find. It’s one of the most widely distributed owls in the world. On this continent, it breeds throughout Canada. In the United States, the Great Plains and prairies are also suitable, so suitable that some birds don’t have to migrate. Those that do can go all the way to Florida and Mexico. They are literally findable anywhere there is enough undeveloped open space for hunting.
Don’t look for short ears. The ear tufts of a short-eared owl are so small that they are barely noticeable, even close up. But the dark smudge around the yellow eyes gives it a truly spooky look.
My favorite place to find short-eared owls on their nesting grounds is in Sackville, New Brunswick. The agricultural fields on the edges of town are teeming with owls and harriers.
Sackville is at the same latitude as Houlton, Maine. It seems like the agricultural areas of Aroostook County would be suitable for nesting habitat. Perhaps they are.
Short-eared owls are certainly comfortable in cold weather. Since they are observed annually just south of the Maine border in reliable numbers, I imagine that we have more of them wintering in Maine than we realize.
Coastal salt marshes would be the best places to start looking for short-eared owls. Dawn and dusk would be the best times.
Considering all the salt marshes between Lubec and Kittery, I suspect we don’t see them often because we don’t look enough, but now you know how to find and recognize them.
