{"id":52607,"date":"2018-06-15T05:10:15","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T11:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=52607"},"modified":"2025-02-11T09:20:31","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T15:20:31","slug":"sagebrush-country-short-eared-owls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/06\/15\/sagebrush-country-short-eared-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"Sagebrush Country & Short-eared Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"

I see and photograph Short-eared Owls in sagebrush country quite often. I spend a lot of time in areas where there is sagebrush dotting the desert, steppes, and hillsides here in Utah and I find these amazing owls there. I’ve even located Short-eared Owls nesting at the base of sagebrush and feeding their young.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl in Sagebrush Country – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure I find Short-eared Owls in other habitats here in northern Utah like the marshes at Farmington Bay WMA and Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. I also find them on alkali flats and near springs, seeps, wet meadows, rangelands, and pastures. But I do find them most often when there is sagebrush in the environment.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl with Sagebrush in the background – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I love, love, love the smell of sagebrush. Some people might find the aroma too pungent but for me it is refreshing, revitalizing, and soothing all at the same time and I’ve come to associate that smell with Short-eared Owls because I find them together so frequently.<\/p>\n

These Short-eared Owls were photographed three days ago on the same day I photographed the Turkey Vultures<\/span><\/a> that I shared here recently. It is easy<\/em> to make Short-eared Owls look great in my photographs because they are such beautiful birds.<\/p>\n

\"Short-earedShort-eared Owl adult from a distance – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

I don’t know what is going on with the sagebrush in the photo above, the entire slope in this area is covered with dead sagebrush.\u00a0 The rancher that owns the land may have sprayed something on the sage to kill it but the skeletal remains of the sage in this spot always makes me feel a bit sad because we are already losing sagebrush habitat at an alarming rate due to development and extractive industries. I was happy to spot this Short-eared Owl land on the dead sage to bring some life to what I was seeing.<\/p>\n

Up close or from a distance Short-eared Owls have wonderful appeal and their bright yellow eyes certainly draw my own eyes right to them.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Short-eared Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I see and photograph Short-eared Owls in Sagebrush Country quite often. I spend a lot of time in areas where there is sagebrush dotting the desert, steppes and hillsides here in Utah and I find these amazing owls there.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":139771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1148,130,26],"tags":[4004,4114,2663,6569,898,4378,4099,3967,294,4353,4104,2817,4057,3971],"class_list":["post-52607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-short-eared-owls","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-asio-flammeus","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-country","tag-fence-post","tag-morning","tag-morning-light","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-owls-of-utah","tag-perched","tag-sage","tag-sagebrush","tag-short-eared-owl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-sagebrush-mia-mcpherson-1150.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dGv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":75109,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/11\/05\/male-short-eared-owl-perched-at-the-edge-of-a-sagebrush-sea\/","url_meta":{"origin":52607,"position":0},"title":"Male Short-eared Owl Perched At The Edge Of A Sagebrush Sea","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I am always looking for Short-eared Owls in northern Utah because they are year round residents here but they are nomadic which means I don't always see them.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult male Short-eared Owl perched at the edge of a sagebrush sea, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-wooden-fence-post-centered-mia-mcpherson-4078.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-male-wooden-fence-post-centered-mia-mcpherson-4078.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Short-eared Owl in flight over a sagebrush sea, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/short-eared-owl-male-flight-mia-mcpherson-4449.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-female-grasses-hidden-mia-mcpherson-utah-3011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-female-grasses-hidden-mia-mcpherson-utah-3011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-female-grasses-hidden-mia-mcpherson-utah-3011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-female-grasses-hidden-mia-mcpherson-utah-3011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":39708,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/05\/24\/northern-utah-short-eared-owl-chicks\/","url_meta":{"origin":52607,"position":3},"title":"Northern Utah Short-eared Owl Chicks","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 24, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"It felt amazing to be alone with these northern Utah Short-eared Owl chicks for a few brief moments yesterday.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Short-eared Owl chick in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/short-eared-owl-chick-morning-light-mia-mcpherson-2817.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Barn, Burrowing, Great Horned and Short-eared Owls are the owls that I photograph most often here in northern Utah.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Short-eared Owl resting in front of sage, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/short-eared-owl-juvenile-sage-mia-mcpherson-2874.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":45995,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/04\/05\/cinnamon-teal-short-eared-owl-red-tailed-hawk\/","url_meta":{"origin":52607,"position":5},"title":"Cinnamon Teal, Short-eared Owl & Red-Tailed Hawk – A Nice Mixture of Birds","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"It felt great to photograph a nice mixture of birds yesterday and and to be out enjoying the beautiful scenery of northern Utah. 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