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A Snowy Owl invasion
This winter season (2008/2009) is becoming an invasion year for
Snowy Owls in the
Midwest. At least a dozen had already been seen in
Indiana, southern Wisconsin and
northern
Illinois in November.Â
Birders can usually find these beautiful owls during the day,
as
they roost in areas that mimic
their tundra homes–cornfields,
for example, or along
the Lake Michigan shoreline.
While it is an extraordinary pleasure to view these enigmatic birds
from the north,
it can also be painful. Some owls are so hungry
they
have become emaciated
and incapable of flight. Indeed, two owls
needing care were brought to a Wisconsin
wildlife rehabilitation
center where hopefully they will be rejuvenated and later released
back into the wild. If you see a Snowy Owl, please watch from a distance and do not
disturb it.
If it appears sick, do not approach. Instead call a wildlife rehabilitator and ask for assistance. Read an article Steve and Sheryl wrote about Snowy Owls in the Dec. 18 issue of Pioneer Press Newspapers.
Photo of Snowy Owl above by Travis A. Mahan. All rights reserved.
Harry Potter's owl
Hedwig, the famous Snowy Owl in the Harry Potter novels, may have met her demise in the latest installment of the well-known book series. But the Snowy Owl remains alive and well in North America.
The Snowy Owl raises its young on the tundra in summer when the sun shines nearly 24 hours every day. In years when populations of its preferred food, lemmings, are abundant , this beautiful owl with yellow eyes and white plumage, may produce up to 14 young. But when the lemming populations crash as they do periodically, the Snowy Owl must search for food elsewhere. In particularly lean years, Snowy Owls will come as far south as Wisconsin, Michigan, and even central Illinois and Indiana to find food. Their diet then becomes more ecelectic. On the menu are rodents, ducks, pigeons, whatever mammal or bird they can find to sustain themselves. When many Snowy Owls descend here from the north, ornithologists call the event an irruption or invasion.
Males are the whitest, cleanest-looking; females and immatures have dark fleckings on their back and breasts.Below, a female Snowy Owl sits on the frozen ground in Quebec.
| LINKS: | Illinois Ornithological Society | | | Natural History Survey | | | Birdzilla | | | Chicago Botanic Garden | | | American Birding Association |