Short-eared owl

You might think of a bluebird or a robin first.

But the Short-eared Owl is one of a handful of owls that does migrate.

Affectionately called "shorties," they fly south for the winter in North America, but stay on the continent.

In other parts of the world, like Europe and Asia, they take transcontinental flights.

A forest owl needs to navigate through dense vegetation in near darkness, and round, broad wings give it the agility to do so.

Owls that hunt over open ground, like the short-eared owl, tend to have longer, more pointed wings for sustained gliding.

These owls need to cover large areas of grassland or marsh, quartering back and forth for extended periods, and longer wings provide the lift and efficiency needed for that kind of flying.

The wing shape alone can tell you a great deal about where an owl lives and how it hunts.

You could look at an owl from any angle and see no sign of its ears.

They are concealed beneath a layer of specially adapted feathers that allow sound to pass through while protecting the ear openings from wind and debris.

The Short-eared Owl is one of the most widely distributed owls in the world, found across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and several island groups.

It is a bird of open country, found wherever there are grasslands, marshes, or tundra with enough small mammals to sustain it.