Long-eared Owl Winter Habitat Use and Distribution
Objectives
This research addresses knowledge gaps in the ecology of Long-eared Owl (LEOW; Asio otus), a secretive owl that is not currently identified as a regular winter resident in the Interior Highlands, despite annual encounters. To our knowledge, this species has not been studied in the region.
To accomplish our goals, we will establish a winter monitoring program for LEOW in the Interior Highlands of Arkansas and southwestern Missouri.
The LEOW is a medium-sized owl whose range includes North America, where they are found in a variety of open land habitats (used for hunting) with nearby wooded edges (used for roosting). This includes grassland, agricultural land (e.g. row crop), meadows, shrublands and open pine forest.
Migration of LEOW is poorly understood. While many scientists capture them during fall migration, these efforts are much less successful than with NSWO. The species’ nonbreeding range is also poorly understood, especially in eastern North America. In the east, including the Interior Highlands, LEOW are reported annually, but their habitat associations, movement patterns, and overall distributions are not well-known.
One exploratory (2022) and one full (2023) season of fall LEOW monitoring resulted in 2 detections at our NSWO banding site. This plus annual records sparked the establishment of this project, set to begin in winter 2024-2025. We will work to establish a monitoring program for this species by surveying grassland and agricultural habitats associated with forest edges and open pine forest.