Snowy Owls
Thursday, February 20th, 2014February 20, 2014
She was only one of the more than 2,500 snowy owls that left the Arctic for the United States and Canada this winter. But thanks to an encounter with a city bus and an SUV, she became a media star. On January 30, the owl, which had appeared in Washington, D.C., some days earlier, suffered a broken toe and a head injury in a traffic accident. Rushed to a city wildlife facility, she was treated successfully and moved to comfortably cold rooms for her recuperation. Apparently, she enjoyed the food—white mice—served at the facility. But as she improved, she became increasingly dissatisfied with her small accommodations. So earlier this week, her caretakers moved her to larger quarters at an undisclosed location. Bird experts there hope she will be healthy enough for release in spring, when snowy owls traditionally return to the Arctic.
Snowy owls are graceful birds of prey that usually live on the Arctic tundra in Canada, where they feed mainly on lemmings. The owls reach about 23 inches (58 centimeters) long and have mostly white plumage with brown markings. Adult females have more brown markings than the adult males. In addition to lemmings, the owls may feed on mice, voles, ducks, and hares.
The call of the snowy owl features several rough notes and sounds somewhat like a dog’s bark. (Alan D. Carey, Photo Researchers)
Although snowy owls migrate south every winter, this year’s invasion has been one of the largest in memory, scientists said. Bird watchers working with eBird, an online citizen science project run by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the National Audubon Society, have reported spotting the owls in 25 states and 7 Canadian territories. The project (at ebird.org) uses sightings collected by bird watchers in more than 115 countries to create maps showing where species can be found. Unlike most owls, snowy owls are active during the day, making them easier to observe. Usually, the younger birds make the trek south, chased out of their home range by older birds after fresh snow starts to fall. The lemmings take advantage of the cover to drop out of sight, significantly reducing the food available to the owls.
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