This new clip from the BBC show Super Powered Owls shows a snowy owl, Bubo scandiacus, defending its young against hungry skuas and wolves. Because these owls breed north of the Arctic Circle, they don’t nest in trees: there aren’t any up there. To get a good view of the surroundings, though, they nest on top of large rocks or mounds. This still makes them especially vulnerable to predators, which is clearly why owls like the one below are so aggressive in defense of their young:
I’ve seen one of these beautiful birds once—when I was in graduate school in Boston. There were reports of a snowy owl living around Plum Island, Massachusetts, and so my late friend Ken Miyata and I drove up there. The birders, who were out in force, of course, told us where to find the beast, and there it was, a gorgeous white sculpture with yellow eyes, sitting placidly atop a snow-covered hill. I doubt I’ll ever see another.
If you make a few sojourns to Chicago’s Montrose Harbor next winter you most likely will see another one; I saw one there myself in winter 2013. They’ve been spotted there for some time, too. I recall when I volunteered for the Shedd Aquarium in the early 90’s one of the aquarists would occasionally look for them during her lunch hour in winter.
A couple years back, a Snowy Owl appeared as far south as St. Simon’s Island on the Georgia coast. It traveled up the coast for a few weeks, to Tybee Island near Savannah. https://cindymcintyre.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/snowy-owl-on-the-georgia-coast/
Snowy Owls are an eruptive species and some years appear in greater numbers than others. Each year in NYC area we get at least one or two Snowies but a couple of years ago there was a huge eruption througout the US. During that year’s Christmas Bird Count we counted over 20 Snowy Owls in Brooklyn Alone.
I think this clip also shows a nice example of convergent evolution: White fur and white feathers in an arctic environment.
There must be an online birding network in the Chicago area where unusual or interesting bird sightings are posted. Snowy owls should be fairly regular winter visitors to that area. Once the sighting is posted it is simply a matter of going to the general area and watching for a cluster of bundled up humans with spotting scopes and telephoto lenses staring at a concrete post where there shouldn’t be a concrete post. If the post has yellow eyes you have found the owl.
That eruption of northern birds two years ago sent a snowy owl as far south as Jacksonville, FL.
I love owls! This video is just really cool. 🙂
I was once parked near the ocean at night listening to the vehicle’s radio with the engine turned off. I happened to look out the driver’s side window and saw, not more than six feet away, a barn owl hovering effortlessly and silently in the onshore breeze and looking right back at me. I assume it had been attracted by the dash lights or the sound of the radio and it lifted a wing and peeled off after its brief inspection, but it was no less startling or haunting.
One of my favourite memories is of a glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) poised just a few feet away from me, by the upper deck railing, gliding in the rising air currents from the ferry’s forward motion. It was hoping for a handout and spent about five minutes showing me how it could hold its position with the slightest of adjustments. No other gull was going to get between us.
As for owls, a barred owl once took umbrage to my star gazing and repeatedly dive-bombed me in, to my eyes, near total darkness. Much like that wolf, I got to feel its talon raking my scalp.
It strikes me as a very high cost in energy, especially given that much of the mother’s caloric intake is going to straight to her chicks.
Obviously it works, but it never ceases to amaze me how species adapt to such hostile environments.
Great footage… interesting comments on number counts and what a great mother owl.
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A few years ago, one took up residence at a chemical plant in eastern Ontario, where I worked shift.
It liked the high spots, and would tolerate a fairly close observation, probably because it knew we couldn’t get near it.
It was amazing to see it swoop seemingly effortlessly over snow-covered fields and come up with a snack.
Fantastic Raptors and frighteningly efficient, I think they and the Eagle Family are my favourite Birds.
In Seattle where I lived back in the 90’s, a snowy owl took up residence on a building roof opposite from my office window, south of Lake Union. It spent the winter there, and I’d see it perched there most days. It probably lived off of mice in that building, which was unused.