Will Snowy Owls return this winter?

Remember the winter of 2013-14? The Lehigh Valley was graced with uncommon sightings of Snowy Owls, a ghostly predator rarely seen in our region. Sometimes many years go by before one of these birds is seen here. Surprisingly they may be on their way back.

There are early signs of Snowy Owl invasion this year, according to the online bird watching service, E-bird.com. Some birders are speculating that the numbers may be even greater than the snowy winter of 2013-14.

Since October, an unusual number of sightings have been reported in the Upper Midwest and the upper New England states. Approximately 50 Snowy Owls already have been seen in the area between eastern Minnesota and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The birds have been spotted on a backyard deck, a car roof in a parking lot, a roadside sign, a pickup truck and a bridge railing.

Snowy Owls spend their summers above the Arctic Circle hunting lemmings and other rodents in the 24 hours of daylight. They also eat ptarmigan and waterfowl. 

Their usual wintering range is Atlantic Canada, New England, northern New York, and the Great Lakes region. During the unusual winter of 2013-14, Snowy Owls were seen in such locations as the Outer Banks of North Carolina; Washington, D.C.; and Little Talbot Island near Jacksonville, Florida. There was even one report in Hawaii!

We'll have to wait to see if the Snowy Owls visit our region again. In 2013-14, they were seen at the Lehigh Valley International Airport, Fogelsville along Route 100, Van Buren Road in Palmer Township, Township Line Road in Lower Nazareth, Williams Township, Queen City Airport in Allentown, Commerce City Boulevard in Bethlehem and near the Peterbilt truck stop at the Route 863 exit of Interstate 78.

Wintering birds favor locations that mimic the Arctic tundra: open and treeless areas. Because they often sit on the ground while hunting, they like rolling terrain whether they can find a spot from which to survey the surrounding area. They also need an ample source of prey such as mice or other rodents.

Snowy Owls are large white birds with varying amounts of black and brown markings on the body and wings. On females, the markings can be quite dense. Males tend to become whiter with age. The owls have smooth heads and no ear tufts. The dense feathering on their legs makes the bird seem wider at the base.

In years when lemming populations boom, the owls can raise two or three times their normal number of young. 

E-bird reports that it's difficult to understand the precise reason Snowy Owls are seen further south than normal. These uncommon sightings—known as irruptions—are a welcome sight for birders but maybe not for the owls.

"Common reasons for these southern 'irruptions' can include shortages of food further north in core wintering areas, or an excess of young birds that are driven from the better northern wintering areas to sub-par locations further south," E-bird says.

One cautionary note: Although the birds are being seen further south and sooner than usual, that doesn't necessarily mean a rerun of the 2013-14 winter, E-bird says.