Tag Archives: Snowy Owls

2022 Memory Lane Moments: Snowy Owls on the Mississippi Flyway

February 16, 2022: A Snowy Owl on the Mississippi River Flyway.

Memory Lane Moment #2 comes from Lori Carnes! She wrote: “My favorite thing this past year was watching and learning about the snowy owls with our Mississippi Flyway chatters!” Watchers might remember the incredible Snowy Owl irruption on the Flyway in January and February of this year. What were they doing so far from their arctic home? Some species are normally resident on their territories year-round (like Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls), some species are more or less migratory

Snowy Owl FAQs and Information

January 8, 2022: A Snowy Owl on the Flyway.

By Karla Bloem, Executive Director, International Owl Center Owls are a varied group of birds. Some species are normally resident on their territories year-round (like Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls), some species are more or less migratory (like Northern Saw-whet Owls), some are nomadic, wandering around and settling where the food is (like Short-eared Owls), and some are irruptive, where a bunch show up in random years (like Snowy Owls and Great Gray Owls.) Why are Snowy Owls showing

What Bird is This? Snowy Owls on the Flyway!

January 6, 2022: Two snowy owls on the Flyway!

We were beyond thrilled to see Snowy Owls on the Flyway in early January. What are they doing here, so far from their arctic home? We think that their irruptions are linked to food availability and successful breeding. Snowy owls prey heavily on lemmings, a stocky, stump-tailed rodent that might be abundant one year and almost impossible to find the next. A good lemming year is usually an excellent year for snowy owl production, which means a lot of competition