Snowy owl influx excites birders, keeps MSP airport officials on alert

An irregular but popular winter visitor is stirring the interest of Minnesota bird-watchers, wildlife specialists and even the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP).

Snowy owls, which typically migrate this time of year from the Canadian Arctic to the warmer climes of Minnesota and other parts of the northern U.S., are being sighted more than normal, said Andy Forbes, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist in Bloomington.

Reports from birding hot spots and data from eBird, a popular app used to track bird sightings, also have indicated above-average numbers of the striking white raptors.

“When you start seeing them really far south like Missouri, you know there are a lot of birds,” Forbes added.

News of snowy owls doesn’t always have a happy ending. One injured and rescued from a vehicle grille in Duluth was later euthanized.

Steve Weston, longtime coordinator of Minnesota’s Christmas Bird Count, also expects to learn of more snowy owl sightings in the state. He said it’s too early to tell whether 2024-25 will mirror the bird’s large migration about a decade ago.

“It is going to be a good snowy year,” Weston said, “but it is hard to say [how many] because they are just coming down.”

Snowy owls are an irruptive species, meaning their migration numbers can fluctuate year to year. In 2013-14, there was an irruption around the Great Lakes and Northeast. Some of the owls were spotted as far south as Florida. Scott Weidensaul, an ornithologist who tracks the owls, said if they arrive in large numbers in the next month, the owls are mostly juveniles — a signal of a productive breeding season over the summer on the Arctic tundra.

A preference for tundra-like, treeless terrain makes places across Minnesota attractive. Photographers and birders document them at places like the Sax-Zim Bog, the birding mecca northwest of Duluth. At least four snowy owls have been spotted in recent weeks at MSP, with photos of them going viral on social media.

As a birder and wildlife photographer, John Jonas of St. Louis Park makes annual trips to the aircraft viewing area and its lot on Cargo Road, west of Terminal 1. He said this time of year he goes specifically to see snowy owls, knowing their preference for the open expanse.

Jonas’ goal is to note the owl on his annual bird list or take a photograph. He visited in late afternoon on Dec. 23 after learning online of the birds’ sightings. He photographed snowy owls in an altercation with a peregrine falcon. One frame shows three snowies — an unexpected windfall.

Jonas, a data analyst, said in recent years there have been 12 to 15 people positioned to watch the birds, packing the viewing area’s small parking lot.

“[They] bring out everybody, whether you are into birding or photography,” he added.

But the raptors concern MSP officials and their wildlife partners at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The safety of the birds and thousands of daily travelers are at stake.

Snowies are more stubborn than other wildlife encountered at MSP, said Alan Schumacher, a USDA wildlife biologist at the airport. As part of its permit to trap, the USDA can move any raptor to several Minnesota Wildlife Management Areas and some national wildlife refuges at least 40 miles from the airport.

Officials use bait, but that doesn’t mean snowies will cooperate. Schumacher said some might have full stomachs, having already fed on the airfield’s buffet of rats, voles and mice. The raptor is most active at dawn and dusk and is an opportunistic eater, Forbes said.

“I tell people it’s kind of like fishing,” Schumacher said. “Sometimes they want to bite and sometimes they don’t … [snowies] are just a different kind of animal than what we typically are dealing with here.”

Jeff Mattson, an airside operations duty manager, said another problem is their coloring.

“The runway markings are white, so they’re trying to hide,” he said. “So, it’s not a good scenario when they’re out here.”

A dead snowy owl was found in early December on airport grounds. Mattson said it’s uncertain how the bird was killed. The last reported strike of a snowy owl at the airport involved a Delta 737 on Feb. 3, 2022, according to Federal Aviation Administration data. Bird strikes are self-reported by airlines.

Monitoring for wildlife is part of twice-daily inspections of the airport’s four runways, taxiways and other surface areas, Mattson said. “We’re basically out there all the time.”

Weidensaul co-founded Project Snowstorm, which put transmitters on snowy owls after the major irruption in 2013-14. Last month, he reported that there was a moderate push of the raptors into southern Canada and even as far south as Virginia, southern Illinois and Indiana. He said it’s uncertain how many more will migrate south. He said older owls might have stayed north, owing to a record-warm November in North America.

“Last winter we had some tagged adults that waited until early January to move south,” Weidensaul said in an email, “and that may happen this time, especially if, as predicted, there’s a pattern change in the next couple of weeks and we get a lot of much colder and snowier weather up north.”

If there are visibly more owls than unusual, Karla Bloem’s chief concern is that people respect the owls’ presence at the airport or anywhere. The executive director at the International Owl Center in Houston, Minn., said photographers and onlookers should give the birds space, even though owls are used to encounters with people.

Snowies prefer to roost and rest during the day, making them more visible, she said. Quick movements and sudden noise stress the owls, making their fondness for airfields rather surprising. The best practice is to back away if the bird stands or appears ready to fly off its perch.

“People need to understand their behavior,” Bloem added.