Status in northeast Oklahoma (Tulsa County only): EXTIRPATED and ACCIDENTAL

From the historical field notes of Jim Hoffman:

Observers: Steve Metz, Jim Hoffman

"We received 11 inches of snow yesterday... one the the largest snowfalls ever recorded here. Difficult driving the prairies, but we were not disappointed. We found Short-eared Owls at 96th/Sheridan, 136th/Sheridan and 186th/Memorial (6, 1 and 1 respectively). As is normally the case when it snows, the Short-ears were up and hunting in broad daylight, and were perching on fence posts. Most interesting were the Prairie Chickens, all of whom [15 total] were in fields east and west of Memorial, just south of 186th street. We were amazed to see them dig themselves down into the snow so that only their heads were sticking up above the snow. At any given time, about a third of them were concealed in this way while the others were either dug half-way in or were up walking around on the snow. Their affinities to the ptarmigans were very evident today."