Photo by John Schwegman., U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
A small town in the eastern Upper Peninsula has new monkiker, named for the distinctive white arctic owl that appears in greater numbers there each year than in other parts of Michigan. Rudyard, Michigan, located in Chippewa County, is now "The Snowy Owl Capital of Michigan"
A recent story in the Sault News (bit.ly/3kYPNY1) reports that "As of Jan. 20, Rudyard Township in the Eastern Upper Peninsula is officially recognized as the snowy owl capital of the state."
Snowy owls are identified by their distinct white plumage, which can also be mottled with brown spots. They are large owls with yellow eyes that breed north of the Arctic Circle in summer and then migrate southward during the winter. Michigan is the southern edge of their winter range.
Snowy Owls feed on small mammals and birds. They are agile flyers who prefer wide open spaces.
"Snowy Owls mainly eat small mammals, particularly lemmings, which at times on the tundra may be all these birds eat. Sometimes they'll switch to ptarmigan and waterfowl. Snowy Owls are also one of the most agile owls, able to catch small birds on the fly. On both their breeding and wintering grounds, their diet can range widely to include rodents, rabbits, hares, squirrels, weasels, wading birds, seabirds, ducks, grebes, and geese," the Cornell Labratory of Ornitholgy reports on its All About Birds website (bit.ly/3RmVhHP).
The visually-striking owl is considered a "vulnerable" species whose numbers have declined by 50 percent over the last 50 years, according to the State of the Birds 2022 report by the North American Bird Conservation Initiatve (NABCI) a cooperative effort by governmental agencies, private organizations and others. The report details the findings for Snowy Owls and numerous other North American bird species. To learn more about those findings see https://www.stateofthebirds.org/2022/
Photo by Angela at Pixabay,
Photo by Tom Koerner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
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