Association de Conservation de la nature de Stukely-Sud-en

2/21/2015

Irruption of Snowy Owls

Last winter, one of the largest "irruptions"  of Snowy Owls in the past century occurred, with some of these beautiful birds being seen as far south as Florida and Bermuda. Larger than usual numbers are again in the Great Lakes area and farther east. Thanks to the efforts of a group of volunteer scientists, bird-banders and wildlife health professionals, some birds have been fitted with electronic tracking devices to learn more about their movemnts.

Photo © Scott Weidensaul

Although it would be easy to think that these irruptions occur because of lack of food, this does not appear to be the case. Instead, because prey species were abundant the previous year, larger clutches of owls hatched, and some of this large population of  young birds has come south.

Read more about Project Snowstorm.  With thanks to Tom Moore for this information.