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Re: Could CH Snowy be Barn?



Hi,

Yes you are absolutely right I was thinking about behavior.

There are a few things that not fit well to Snowy :
1. behavior and habitat (in theory should be more open land with no trees, in
Chicago Snowy Owls winter in Meigs Field (small airport just off downtown) and
stay most time on the ground or sometimes on light pylons) They are much more
cryptic being on ground - looks like a patch of snow, than perching on tree.
2. time of day when it could be spotted. Snowy would be much more active
during the day not only at night
3. still stay by my size doubts

There are however a few things strongly supporting Snowy Owl:
1. yellowish eyes
2. barring (not striping I hope...) on flanks, belly and upperparts
3. overall white appearance

Suggestion of Barn Owl (light phase) is very good however these yellowish
eyes....
How about the silhouette of flying bird? Head was small or big, tail length,
wing tips and wide etc. Snowy comparing to other owls looks less
"heavy-headed" and has more pointed wings.
I don't know exactly where the birds was seen but the place in Chapel Hill I
would expect such Snowy Owl would be an airport
By the way where exactly is THE Snowy Owl place? At least two streets
please...
I will try to find  it tomorrow morning.

Mike

Joshua Stuart Rose wrote:

> Steve-
>
> Your Barn question comes back to where the Barred question left off: the
> eyes. If Jerry's wife is correct about them being yellow, the bird can't
> be a Barn or Barred Owl, and is almost certainly a Snowy (unless it's an
> unusually pale, short-eared Great Horned). If Jerry's wife was fooled by
> reflected headlights or streetlamps or some other optical illusion into
> seeing yellow that wasn't there, then...
>
> Jerry-
>
> First, thanks for all the updates and effort. The posters are a great
> touch.
>
> I believe Mike is referring not to the Snowy's size, but its normal
> behavior. Snowy Owls are tundra residents who don't even see their first
> tree until months after they hatch, after the first Arctic snows when they
> begin wandering south in search of prey. As such, they spend virtually all
> of their perching time on the ground, or on exposed perches like telephone
> poles. On the rare occasions when they do perch in trees, it is nearly
> always on the very top or an exposed outer limb, not near the trunk or
> foliage. That's why Mike stressed "INTO the tree", to contrast this with
> on top of/on the edge of. Mike, am I correct?
>
> Because Snowy Owls are tundra birds, they are also accustomed to the
> Arctic summer with its 20-plus hours of daylight, so they often are out
> hunting during the day. I think the fact that your owl has so far been
> seen only at night is the main factor in everybody's skepticism. The fact
> that the crows keep mobbing something in the woods is also suspicious;
> Snowies generally rest on the ground in the open, in fields or on beaches,
> again because they grow up in a treeless habitat. But as Mike said
> earlier, a bird that was disoriented enough to wander this far from home
> could also be acting strangely in other ways...
>
> Good birding,
>
> Josh
>
> Joshua S. Rose
> Duke University
> Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)
>
> jsr6@duke.edu
> http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/

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