Laura Erickson's For the Birds

This winter, northern owls are staging what ornithologists call an irruption. Here in Duluth, we’ve had lots of sightings of some of the most sought-after species in America—birds that many birders travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to see, especially Snowy, Great Gray, Boreal, and Northern Hawk Owls. Even non-birders have been noticing Great Grays and Boreals along the highway between Duluth and Two Harbors. On Sunday, a Short-eared Owl was seen hunting in daytime at Park Point in Duluth.

Northern Hawk Owls are genuinely diurnal hunters, and Snowy, Great Gray, and Short-eared Owls are what we call crepuscular, doing a great deal of their normal hunting at dawn and dusk. Boreal and Eastern Screech-Owls are strictly nocturnal unless they are extremely hungry, and most of the Boreal Owls birders have been seeing were actively hunting even at high noon, meaning they’re in dire straits.

Wildwoods—Duluth’s wildlife rehabilitation center—serves as a local waystation for injured owls before they go to the state-of-the-art Raptor Center in the Twin Cities. On Monday, January 13, Wildwoods posted on Facebook:

On Friday and Saturday, we received a total of six owls. They included a red morph eastern screech owl, two great grey owls, and three boreal owls. Of the six admitted, five were hit by cars. We are very sad to say that two did not make it.

Birders like to share information, so word has been getting out on all kinds of social media venues when any owls are spotted. Some of the cars colliding with owls during this kind of invasion are driven by birders in too much of a hurry, ironically trying to add owls to their life lists. We should be driving carefully wherever we are, but when so many vulnerable owls are about, extreme caution is warranted.

Owls often hunt along country roads and highways, perching on high structures such as signs, powerlines, and poles that provide a wide view. To add a bird to birding lists, you just need to see it well enough to identify it, so seeing an owl as you drive past is perfectly adequate. The first Great Gray Owl I saw this year was perched in a tree along Highway 61. Even when traffic is low, it seems too dangerous to me to pull over on a highway that serves so many logging and delivery trucks and SUVs that are going faster than the 65 mph speed limit. There was very little traffic so I set my cruise control at 50–I speed up whenever I spot faster vehicles behind me. None were coming when I saw the owl, but with the cruise control on, I didn’t slow down even reflexively as I passed the owl; I still saw it well. The only other Great Gray I’ve seen so far this year was along a very quiet country road with virtually no traffic at all, but a large group of birders was already there. I stopped momentarily, but it didn’t seem worth the bother of driving past the long line of cars, turning around on the slippery road to park, and dealing with so many people, so I drove on.

Crowds may irritate me, but they’re worse for wild owls–both dangerous and distracting, and the more people gathered near an owl, the more dangerous it is for the poor bird. Some owls seem able to ignore birders and photographers who are quiet, keep their distance, and stay in one group so the bird doesn’t have to keep looking this way and that to keep track of everyone. Much as it’s lovely to get close and linger near a cool bird, it’s always selfish to leave the roadside. Much of the land along country roads up here is private, meaning birders are likely to be trespassing, but more important to my way of thinking, owls seem more comfortable dealing with people staying on that well-defined road than people who leave the road and approach closer.

When I’ve come to a spot where a Boreal or Great Gray Owl had been in view and retreated into the woods, the people who saw it claimed they didn’t frighten it—that the bird was in “hunting mode,” even as I’ve often seen human footprints in the snow indicating they approached too close.

On Tuesday, I saw a Boreal Owl with lots of people watching and photographing it from close range. It was plenty close enough for good photos and views from the road, but most of the people gathered had crossed the roadside ditch to get closer. The owl appeared to be sleeping, but I could see its eyes were very slightly opened, indicating the owl was keeping close watch on us all. I’m sure the people were waiting for the owl to open its eyes, but the sight of those bright yellow eyes often alerts chickadees. Owls have no trouble dealing with chickadees swearing at them, but those little mobbing calls attract the big guns—jays and crows. I think the Boreal Owl figured it was safer staying put biding its time, but that hardly means those people off the road, and even those of us who stayed on the road, weren’t dangerously stressing it out. I shot a few photos, whispered Godspeed to the little bird, and got the heck out of there.

We’re in for some very serious cold weather in the coming days which is going to be hard on these stressed and hungry owls. I hope the many birders who are coming here this weekend get to enjoy owls to their hearts’ desire without any of them adding to the owls’ already dire situation. Me, I’d love to be out looking for all kinds of winter birds, but I’m gonna stay put at home so I won’t be adding to the pressure on these magnificent but vulnerable birds.