Report: Southern Invasion Of Arctic-Dwelling Snowy Owls Spreads To 25 States
Connecticut.cbslocal.com
February 18, 2014
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Reports from tens of thousands of bird-counting volunteers show a southern invasion of Arctic-dwelling snowy owls has spread to 25 states, and frigid cold is causing unusual movements of waterfowl.
Results are still coming in from the four-day annual Great Backyard Bird Count sponsored by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada. Sponsors say the event, which ended Monday, drew participants from a record 127 countries, surpassing last year’s 110. Most were from the U.S. and Canada.
Preliminary results show more than 2,500 snowy owls being reported in 25 states and seven Canadian provinces. The big white owls are in the midst of an irruption, or a sudden invasion of a region in large numbers, which scientists attribute to a population boom in the birds and a scarcity of their preferred food, lemmings, in their normal range on the Arctic tundra.
The Rest…HERE
