14th Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest Natural World
A wintering short-eared owl hunting in open grasslands.

Short-eared owls hunt in open grasslands. They typically come out near dusk but on this day they were out before sunset and immediately began hunting voles. They hunt by slowly flying over the open fields, using both sight and sound to locate voles.

Photo Detail
Date Taken: 12.2015
Date Uploaded: 12.2016
Photo Location: Wallkill, New York, United States of America
Copyright: © Karen Maloy