The pale underparts are heavily streaked with brown on the breast. The short-eared owl is a bird of the open grassland, marshes and farmland. It is found throughout the province, except in the alpine and montane zones of the Rocky Mountains. The breeding season is spent from the sub-arctic to the northern states. Winter months are spent south of the summer range as far away as Latin America.
Nests are usually a lined depression on the ground.
Five to 7 eggs are laid. Predominantly a day hunter, the short-eared owl flies slowly over the ground in search of mice and voles. During years when rodent if populations are high, these owls tend to congregate in a greater abundance than any other bird of prey.