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| Snowy Owl in the Rendezvous by Mary Morgan |
A snowy owl is quite a sight, and a rare one in the
Methow. In the last couple of weeks,
Methow-ians have seen a snowy owl in the Rendezvous and on Studhorse. Snowy owls are regular residents of Arctic
regions, and only rarely venture south to our state. However, last winter and this current winter,
snowy owl sightings have been more common in Washington
State. Birders consider snowy owls in our area to be
in an “irruptive phase”. (No, the birds
are not erupting out of any volcanoes, although this image did give us a laugh
at our staff meeting today.) In the
birding world, an “irruption”
is generally considered to be a dramatic increase in the number of birds in
areas where they aren’t typically found.
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| The
Magpie seems to think the owl took his spot (Mary Morgan) |
According to BirdWeb, an irruption of snowy owls takes place
after a large lemming population stimulates a high rate of owl reproduction. With an increased Arctic snowy owl
population, the less dominant birds, generally the immature males, are forced
farther south. Others ornithologists
state that a shortage of food (apart from any changes in the owl population),
typically lemmings, up north, forces the owls to move farther south in search
of food. It may be that a combination of
a lemming boom, followed by a snowy owl increase in reproduction and crash of
the lemming population, explains the owls’ movement south.
Snowy owl irruptions generally occur every 10 years or
less. The last such irruption in Washington
state was in 2006. When several species
irrupt to the same region in one year, it is referred to as a “superflight”.
Written by the Methow Conservancy's Conservation Biologist, Julie Grialou, who has eagle eyes when it comes to spotting cool wildlife!
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