From Vermont to Washington state, and from the Great Lakes to the Kansas prairies, snowy owls are being seen like never before this winter in many US states. The surging population of migrant owls has been a boon to bird watchers from coast to coast, armed with binoculars in search of this rare and charismatic winter migrant. A food shortage in the Arctic has pushed many owls well south of there normal range into places where they are rarely seen. The irruptions in populations have been the greatest in decades in many states. An abundant lemming population last summer in the arctic led to an explosion in the owl population. When winter arrived, this led to a food shortage as the high number of owls competed for diminishing supplies of prey. Mostly young owls and female owls are found in the Southern parts of the range as they are pushed out of the prime feeding areas first.
Already in Wisconsin, over one hundred snowy owl sightings have been recorded this winter. Dozens more have been sighted in Kansas and Missouri. Some have migrated as far South as Oklahoma, and they have been turning up in unusually high numbers in states ranging from Vermont to Oregon. This unprecedented influx of snowy owls has delighted bird watchers and Harry Potter fans alike (Hedwig, Harry Potter's pet owl is a snowy owl) as the majestic birds have made their presence felt in the lower forty-eight states, well outside their normal range.
Although the birds thrill bird watchers, many of them are emaciated and in search of food to replace the food supply they left behind in the far north. Some birds will perish before making the return trip in the spring, when the Arctic food supply rebounds. Mortality is fairly high for this transient population, and some of the birds, such as an owl that was frequenting the Kalamazoo airport in Michigan, die of starvation. Those who are able to hunt seek out voles, mice, and waterfowl. Some have been known to prey on birds as large as great blue herons. The current wave of snowy owls is the largest influx in decades. Many bird watchers in the continental United States are traveling out to see these beautiful birds, which are rarely spotted in the places they are now calling their winter homes. To track owls in your area, google maps is keeping a tally of area snowy owl sightings.
Keith Darling-Brekhus - Keith Darling-Brekhus is a political and social analyst. He has an MA in Sociology from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
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