Snowy Owl Irruption of 2014 (S1)

Here is an update on these great snowy owls that everyone has been hearing about. The snowy owl irruption just won’t stop, and some exciting things are happening. Normally when an invasion of an arctic species comes into the United States in winter, we mostly enjoy the wonders and spend the next year or two trying to figure out what caused it and where exactly the birds came from.  Now, thanks to the Internet, we can study it as it happens. An abundance of prey will cause the owls to go into a breeding frenzy and produce as many chicks as possible. When they grow, they travel where they need to during the following winter to find food. When the irruption of snowy owls first appeared on the East Coast, birders and researchers were wondering where the irruption came from. We soon found out when some researchers found a photo of a snow owls’ nest in northern Quebec in 2013.  Before long Project SNOWstorm was formed. This is a collaborative research effort by Project Owlnet, the Ned Smith Center for Nature and Art, independent researcher, agency and organizational partners. The goal was to try and raise at least $20,000 to fund satellite transmitters to track where they owls foraged and where they would go come spring. So far, seven snowy owls have transmitters on them, including one recently trapped by Frank Nicoletti and David Alexander in Ramsey, Minnesota. Researchers are learning some surprising things. For example, it’s assumed most of the owls that come down are starving to death. This is the reason that many of these great owls have come down into the US. The owls do not have enough food where they originate in the artic so therefore they have made their way down to the US in a search for more food. I think this is so cool because these owls look so cool and it is a new species that you might be able to get a glimpse of while you are enjoying your time outside.