European Short Eared Owls Book?

[KentYeti]

Does anyone know if a decent book on European Short Eared Owls is available please?

I've GOOGLED for one, tried Amazon and A.B.E Books and asked in Waterstones today.

Result...nothing.

All I've found online is a field study on North American SEOs that is out of print. Not what I want in any case.

All help gratefully received,

Cheers,

Bryan

[aeshna5]

I'm not aware of any monographs on this species though it's certainly a species that deserves one.

[Deb London]

Not sure if this is any good or available anywhere:

Clark, R. J. 1975. A field study of the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) Ponoppidian in North America. Wildlife Monographs 47: 1-67.

[KentYeti]

Originally Posted by Deb London

Not sure if this is any good or available anywhere:

Clark, R. J. 1975. A field study of the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) Ponoppidian in North America. Wildlife Monographs 47: 1-67.

Thanks Deb. That is the one I've found that is out of print. And I would rather read about/study the European SEOs.

Hard to believe no one has studied the European Bird and put pen to paper afterwards!

Cheers,

Bryan

[mbaldw]

I was hoping there would be a (ideally Poyser) monograph on the subject of SEOs too, Bryan, but was disappointed to find that there don't appear to be any written solely about this bird. Ignoring, that is, a few booklets that have been published and the one 'book' that, as far as I can see, is essentially a direct copy of the information on WikiPedia. That said, Hemio Mikkola's Owls of Europe, Brian Martin's Birds of Prey of the British Isles, and Marianne Taylor's RSPB British Birds of Prey have good sections on SEOs. There are also some interesting papers on this species (although curiously few, compared with other owl species), particularly in the journal Bird Study, although admittedly most of those dealing with their ecology in Britain are now rather dated. I can provide some citations if you're interested in tracking them down.

Cheers,
Marc.

p.s. I have a copy of that North American publication, if you need one.

[Dogghound]

Nothing collective. But there is quite a bit if scientific study into this species. What aspect of the ecology do you want know about? There are a few books which cover basic breeding ecology.

[KentYeti]

Many thanks for the last two posts.

I guess I've been spoiled by the Poyser Mono on Barn Owls and am looking for the same info as in there. A detailed study of all aspects of the species.

So any links to papers etc written will help.

No way could I produce a book from scratch. That would need years of field work by me and others. But I am starting to feel I need to bring together what has been published on the subject to produce a dedicated book. It would not be an in depth study and would maybe need to have distinct bias towards photos to make up for that.

If I did proceed with that I am still going to need a few years of info and photo gathering. ie. follow the birds to their breeding quarters etc.

Any such book would almost certainly end up as online only, or at best vanity published. Just thoughts at the present anyway. But there does seem to be a big gap in what is available.

But for the present all help greatly appreciated on what is available,

Cheers,

Bryan

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by KentYeti

Many thanks for the last two posts.

I guess I've been spoiled by the Poyser Mono on Barn Owls and am looking for the same info as in there. A detailed study of all aspects of the species.

So any links to papers etc written will help.

No way could I produce a book from scratch. That would need years of field work by me and others. But I am starting to feel I need to bring together what has been published on the subject to produce a dedicated book. It would not be an in depth study and would maybe need to have distinct bias towards photos to make up for that.

If I did proceed with that I am still going to need a few years of info and photo gathering. ie. follow the birds to their breeding quarters etc.

Any such book would almost certainly end up as online only, or at best vanity published. Just thoughts at the present anyway. But there does seem to be a big gap in what is available.

But for the present all help greatly appreciated on what is available,

Cheers,

Bryan

Why not give the RSPB a ring at The Lodge. They may be able to point you towards what you require.

[KentYeti]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Why not give the RSPB a ring at The Lodge. They may be able to point you towards what you require.

A good idea! I contacted them and they put me onto the Natural History Book Service. And there is just one book on the Short Eared Owl in Europe. But it's in German and my German will not be up to reading such a book to the extent I will gain what I need from it.

The search continues.

As do my initial plans for writing a book on the subject. Which most definitely will need help from WAB members.

Cheers,

Bryan

[mbaldw]

Originally Posted by KentYeti

So any links to papers etc written will help.

Here are a few that you might find interesting. Dogghound will probably be able to suggest others.

Calladine, J. et al. (2010). Variation in the diurnal activity of breeding Short‐eared Owls Asio flammeus: implications for their survey and monitoring. Bird Study. 57(1):89-99.

Arroyo, B.E. et ali. (2000). Sex and age determination of Short-eared Owl nestlings. Condor. 102(1): 216-219.

Reynolds, P. & Gorman, M.L. (1999). The timing of hunting in short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) in relation to the activity patterns of Orkney voles (Microtus arvalis orcadensis). J. Zool. 247(3): 371-379.

Shaw, G. (1995). Habitat selection by Short-eared Owls Asio flammeus in young coniferous forests. Bird Study. 42(2): 158-164.

Village, A. (1987). Numbers, Territory-Size and Turnover of Short-Eared Owls Asio flammeus in Relation to Vole Abundance. Ornis Scand. 18(3): 198-204.

Roberts, J.L. & Bowman, N. (1986). Diet and ecology of Short-eared Owls Asio flammeus breeding on heather moor. Bird Study. 33(1): 12-17.

Glue, D.E (1977). Feeding Ecology Of The Short-eared Owl In Britain And Ireland. Bird Study. 24(2): 70-78.

Jeal, P.E.C. (1976). Prey of Short-eared Owls in breeding quarters in the Outer. Hebrides. Bird Study. 23(1): 56-57

Buckley, J. (1973) The prey of Short-eared Owls wintering on the Berkshire Downs. British Birds. 66: 143-146.

Vernon, J. D. R. (1972) Prey taken by Short-eared Owls in winter quarters in Britain. Bird Study. 19: 114-115.

I have most of these, so let me know if you have any trouble tracking down copies.

Originally Posted by KentYeti

But I am starting to feel I need to bring together what has been published on the subject to produce a dedicated book. It would not be an in depth study and would maybe need to have distinct bias towards photos to make up for that.

Sounds like a very interesting idea. I have long been thinking that a dedicated appraisal of the species would be beneficial. I have it on my list to cover on my website (after Tawny owls), but that would obviously never reach the detail that you would include in a book. Good luck!

Cheers,
Marc.