Snowy Owls Make Mysterious Migration

[xchrom]

http://www.livescience.com/41770-snowy-owls-make-mysterious-migration.html

?1320193378

The visitors from the Arctic have shown up as far south as North Carolina, on the island of Bermuda and in unusually large numbers in the Northeast and around the Great Lakes. Yesterday (Dec. 5), 15 were counted at Logan Airport in Boston.

For reasons no one understands, snowy owl sightings are spiking in eastern North America this winter.

"Maybe this is starting to shape up to be an irruption year," said Denver Holt, founder of the Owl Research Institute in Montana. 'Irruption' refers to the unpredictable migrations the birds make.

This wouldn't be the first snowy owl irruption in recent memory; it would be the third. Two years ago, the birds showed up in unusually high numbers from east to west across the continent. One was even spotted in Hawaii for the first time. The following year’s snowy owl irruption was less widespread and more directional, with birds showing up in the northern Great Plains, northern Rockies and the Pacific Northwest, according to the Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count. This year, owls appear to be drawn to another part of the continent.

[Demeter]

1. I blame it on JKRowling and Harry Potter

The owls have come to avenge Hedwig!

Good morning, X!

[xchrom]

2. morning, miss demeter!

[dlwickham]

4. that was my first though as well

Hogwarts is sending out a lot of new acceptance letters

[TBF]

3. Georgous birds -

but I really fear we have done irreparable damage to our environment

[mopinko]

5. i will have to get out there and look.

lake michigan usually gets a lot of them. mayor daley did a ton to increase bird habitat along the lake front. i have no doubt they are here.
i missed the last irruption. i will have to make a greater effort this time.

[pscot]

6. They're probably hungry

Maybe the lemmings had a bad year.

Snowy owls are generally solitary and territorial. Territory size varies with prey abundance; during years of abundant prey, as many as five pairs may hold territories within a square mile whereas pairs are much more widely spaced during years of scarcity. Snowy owls are migratory. However, migration in this species is unpredictable and likely related more to prey abundance than seasons or weather. In general, snowy owls move nomadically and breed when and where prey is abundant. Unlike most owls, snowy owls are largely diurnal, or awake, during the day


Snowy owls are carnivorous. They hunt by utilizing an elevated perch that provides them good visibility while waiting for potential prey to appear in the hunting area. Visual scanning of the hunting area is facilitated by their ability to swivel their head 270 degrees around. Their main prey is typically lemmings and mice, however, they also take rabbits, seabirds and fish opportunistically

http://alaskazoo.org/snowy-owl