Antillean Short-eared Owls invade southern Florida

Recently, Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus) have invaded extreme southern Fl orida during spring and summer, most appear to be post-hedging dispersers. Morphological and plumage characteristics identify the specimens as coming from the Antilles, most likely from Cuba, where numbers and range have expa nded greatly in recent years. This dispersal continues a trend that began i n other bird species more than half a century ago. Since 1932 about one lan dbird species per decade has colonized southern Florida from the Antilles.