I think this discussion is worthy of posting for NYSBirders as well.
Ardith Bondi
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [JERSEYBI] My Take on Snowy Owl
Date: Sun, 8 Dec 2013 12:58:46 -0500
From: Steve Mattan <stevemat...@comcast.net>
Reply-To: Steve Mattan <stevemat...@comcast.net>
To: jerse...@lists.princeton.edu
With respect to this comment by Phil Jeffery (full email below):
"It's also the case that a lot of these Snowy's are in bad shape, and being
pushed around costs energy which has impact on mortality."
This may be of interest (from an email thread not unlike this one on
PABIRDS):
From: Scott Weidensaul <scottweidens...@verizon.net>
Date: December 8, 2013 at 7:44:40 AM EST
To: pabi...@list.audubon.org
Subject: Re: [PABIRDS] Snowy Owls and caution
Reply-To: Scott Weidensaul <scottweidens...@verizon.net>
While John's comments come from the very best place - concern for the birds -
I'm afraid he's repeating a very common and widespread myth about snowy owls,
one that even many scientists and top birders believe: that they're struggling
to survive down here.
In fact, the research shows the opposite - that starvation is a fairly rare
fate for most of the snowy owls that come south. Norman Smith in Massachusetts,
for example, has satellite tagged 20 snowies for his 30-year study. Fifteen
returned to the Arctic, and of the four that died, three were shot and one was
hit by a plane. None starved. In the 1980s, Paul Kerlinger and his colleagues
published a series of papers on snowy owls in the Great Plains, including a
review of mortality. Again, they found that trauma was the leading cause, few
starved, and more than half they studied actually carried moderate to heavy fat
deposits.
How did this myth get started? The fact is, a few snowies do starve when they
come south, usually young, inexperienced birds. These sick and dying birds are
the ones that people find, and the ones that get taken to rehab. The healthy
ones move one and migrate back. And that happens within any cohort of migratory
birds - yet few people express this kind of worry about disturbing, say,
rough-legged hawks.
What's more, it's not food shortages in the Arctic that spur these major
flights - that's another myth. It appears that, as with major saw-whet owl
flights, the cause is linked to *high* rodent populations during the breeding
season, as well as a number of other factors like snow cover in the Arctic.
Most of these flights are comprised of fat, healthy juveniles born this summer.
This is the reverse of true irruptive species like great gray owls, where the
major flights (like that into Minnesota a few years ago) are comprised mostly
of adults forced south by poor food supplies. In those cases, starvation
mortality is very high…but they're not snowy owls.
I'm not arguing we all go out and relentlessly harass and chase snowy owls all
over the landscape; John's cautions are well-placed. But it's important to be
realistic about these birds, and recognize that they're not all teetering on
the edge of starvation.
Almost nothing is known about the winter ecology of snowy owls, which is why I
and several colleagues are going to be conducting a major, multi-state study
this winter employing next-generation GSM tags, which provide an unprecedented
level of detail on the movements and behavior of these birds. More to come on
that in the weeks ahead.
Scott Weidensaul
Schuylkill Haven, PA
----------------
Steve Mattan
emailing from Philadelphia, PA
Visit my photoblog at http://recycledphotons.blogspot.com
On Dec 8, 2013, at 12:43 PM, Phil Jeffrey <phil.jeff...@gmail.com> wrote:
Unless you've completely ignored the diurnal thread, the Owls are expected
to be largely roosting during the day and hunting at night, so you're
pushing on a bird that basically wants to stay put. It's also the case
that that Snowy and other owls, are particularly aware of raptor presence
as potential predators and attempt to remain unobtrusive as a means of
protection. It doesn't want to fly around the salt marsh advertising it's
presence to whatever Harrier/Eagle/Red-tailed Hawk or Peregrine happens to
be around.
It's also the case that a lot of these Snowy's are in bad shape, and being
pushed around costs energy which has impact on mortality. You should take
a look at
http://bashakillbirder.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/snowy-owl-going-to-rehab/about
the Snowy that was basically picked up from the side of the road and
taken to rehab. That behaved a LOT like the Snowy yesterday at Brig, which
was abnormally tame. I really doubt that you were in a position to judge
the condition of the roadside owl.
Birds in zoos, and for that matter wild birds in parks, take their cues
from how the surround birds react. You can find very tame birds in zoos
because they've ceased regarding humans as potential predators. You can
find moderately tame waterfowl in city parks that are wild birds that
become accustomed to human approach. Neither of those situations apply to
that owl at Brig.
Phil Jeffrey
Ewing
On Sun, Dec 8, 2013 at 12:13 PM, Brian Kushner <bkushn...@gmail.com> wrote:
First I will say that I agree 100% that nests of all birds need to be
protected. Birds in a nest cannot simply escape someone getting too close.
However, when it comes to birds like the Snowy all over the tri state area,
if someone gets close, can't the bird simply fly away? It's not captive,
it's not protecting a nest, it's not guarding offspring.
Also, if the owl doesn't like these encounters, why even come close to
where the people are. They could simply set up someone else in the area. I
find it ironic that everyone freaks about getting too close to the "rare
birds" but it's ok to get close to a Sparrow, Blue Jay or other common bird.
Seems to me that many birds build their nests close to people and activity
when they could simply move a few yards and not be near people.
With that said, as a photographer I would not walk right up to a bird, I
prefer some distance but I don't think there is major trauma from close
approaches. There are animals (Including many birds) in Zoos all over that
are approached much closer without the ability to flee and they are not
dropping over dead from the stress.
I seem to recall just this summer some of the same folks complaining about
getting too close to birds, climbed up onto Osprey nests and took photos of
each other posing with Osprey chicks in the nest.
Brian
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