First, we need to take back our last owl identification on our recent post. The owl family is NOT that of a Barred Owl. I was lucky enough to take many more pictures and have researched several sources.
I am now waiting for the expert opinion of our good friend, Rebecca Lessard, the Director of Wings of Wonder. WOW is a wonderful organization devoted to the rehabilitation and release of injured raptors along with holding about 100 educational programs a year with permanently disables birds. Rebecca does a fabulous job and is an inspiration; check out her sites here:
http://www.wingsofwonder.org
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wings-of-Wonder/105315512891121
This site (www.allaboutbirds.org) is the best overall source we found to help identify this owl. If we are correct (this time!) our locally produced birding book states that the ground nesting Short-Eared Owl is a: "Very rare transient...now listed as an endangered species in Michigan..." This book, however, was published in 1994 and the information might be out of date.
Also, check out the wiki; always a good place to start.
Hope you like the pix!
Andy
So beautiful Andy. Awesome.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bren! I'll make a clarification post later, but we found out they are LONG-eared owls. Both are rare in our area, but many sightings of long eared have cropped up this year. Not sure why, but we'll love 'em!
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