Short eared owl, photo by Sherri & Dan.

The Owl Pages excellent entry for Short-eared Owl – Asio flammeus begins:

A Danish bishop and amateur naturalist, Erich Ludvigsen Pontoppidan, published the first description of this Owl in 1763. In Latin, the word “flammeus” means fiery, flaming, or the colour of fire. Local names for the Short-eared Owl include the Evening Owl, Marsh Owl, Bog or Swamp Owl, Grass Owl, Meadow Owl, Mouse-hawk, and Flat-faced Owl.

Description: The Short-eared Owl is a medium-sized Owl. The plumage is buffy brown with dark streaks on the chest, belly, and back. Males tend to be lighter in colour than females. This colouring provides good camouflage, but if this fails, a Short-eared Owl will feign death to avoid detection. The wings and tail are strongly barred. The yellow eyes are circled with black and set in whitish or buffy-white facial disks, which are suffused with a ring of brown. The bill is black. The head appears round without ear tufts, but at very close range small ear tufts are visible. In flight, the dark “wrist” on the underwing is the key field mark.

Generally nocturnal, but often become active 30-60 minutes before sunset … Flies with deep, slow, moth-like rowing wingbeats, and glides on stretched wings over open landscapes. Outside breeding season, they may gather in communal roosts.

Read on and also see All About Birds has a map that shows us as a winter (non-breeding) location and Short-eared Owl on Wikipedia. Although these owls are not endangered globally, the Rare Species Explorer at MSU demonstrates that they are very rare in Michigan.

Sherri & Dan got this photo at the Muskegon Waste Water Treatment area. Check it out background big and in their Animals slideshow.