[NatureNS] re Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next?

DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed;
References: <92470D8023567B4D8D50FBA6E5E9D00F0ECC195429@HCXMSP1.ca.lmco.com>
From: Randy Lauff <randy.lauff@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 15:20:20 -0300
To: NatureNS <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Precedence: bulk
Return-Path: <naturens-mml-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>
Original-Recipient: rfc822;"| (cd /csuite/info/Environment/FNSN/MList; /csuite/lib/arch2html)"

next message in archive
next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects

&gt;&gt; On 2014-03-10, at 1
--047d7beb9490a0291604f458c721
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Yes, the key though is, on a regular basis.

Randy

_________________________________
RF Lauff
Way in the boonies of
Antigonish County, NS.


On 11 March 2014 14:51, Shouty McShoutsalot <desolatechair@gmail.com> wrote:

> If birds go south in the fall and return north in the spring on a regular
> basis aren't they migrating and not irrupting?
>
>
> On 11 March 2014 14:30, James Churchill <jameslchurchill@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> hi folks,
>>
>> The question of the relationship between plumage colour and survivability
>> in the South (and North) is interesting...
>> Although sometimes they are difficult to see in snow-covered
>> environments, behaviourally, they are not that cryptic...using mounds,
>> telephone poles, roof tops. A recent paper (IBIS, 2011, which, disclaimer,
>> I haven't read) suggests that darker plumage is almost always absent from
>> the most conspicuous areas of the body (face, throat, breast - although,
>> those could be hidden quite easily with posture adjustments), perhaps
>> suggesting a role of plumage colour in sexual signalling too...
>>
>> To build on Andy's ideas, eBird also now allows users to search for
>> checklists containing images or videos and there is a wealth of Snowy data
>> up there...any patterns in the plumage of birds by latitude, snow cover,
>> date? (there are issues of differences in detectability of these owls
>> related to plumage patterns and snow cover too that would have to be
>> faced...)
>>
>> cheers,
>> James.
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 1:39 PM, Andrew Horn <aghorn@dal.ca> wrote:
>>
>>>  Hi all,
>>>
>>>  We'll know a bit more about these winter irruptions thanks to Project
>>> Snowstorm, whose website is full of useful info and very cool maps of the
>>> movements of several individual owls: http://www.projectsnowstorm.org
>>>
>>>  The project has tagged snowy owls from Minnesota to Massachusetts with
>>> transmitters that track their winter movements. It's a crowdfunded project
>>> (thus the site's many pleas for funds) that was started to take advantage
>>> of this winter's big irruption, since so little is known about where
>>> wintering snowy owls go and why.
>>>
>>>  Cheers,
>>> Andy
>>>
>>>
>>>  On Mar 11, 2014, at 1:02 PM, James W. Wolford <jimwolford@eastlink.ca>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>  My experience from Alberta in the 1960s & '70s was much like Lance
>>> just discussed re Montreal area, that snowy owls came south every year, but
>>> the numbers vary greatly from year to year.  And, as Lance says, it is
>>> assumed that those overwintered owls that survive and are capable of
>>> heading back toward the north do so.  Their northward destinations would be
>>> unknown perhaps for the immatures, but definite for those that had
>>> previously nested at least once.
>>>
>>>  I disagree with Jamie Simpson that because the southward irruptors
>>> have no definite destination, other than some place with food, that they
>>> would have no instinct or desire to head back to the north after winter.
>>>
>>>  I do recall one example of a snowy owl that stayed in Nova Scotia for
>>> the summer.  It was very surprising one year in The Brothers Islands off
>>> the Pubnico communities, and caused a lot of problems for the roseate terns
>>> that were trying to raise young there.  Consult Ted d'Eon/D'Eon? on when
>>> that happened, in the 1970s? or early 1980s?
>>>
>>>  Cheers from Jim in Wolfville.
>>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>>  *From: *"Laviolette, Lance (EXP)" <lance.laviolette@lmco.com>
>>>  *Date: *March 11, 2014 12:04:15 PM ADT
>>>  *To: *"naturens@chebucto.ns.ca" <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
>>>  *Subject: **Re: [NatureNS] Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next?*
>>>  *Reply-To: *naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>>>
>>>   Hi Jamie,
>>>
>>>  My take on this is that while this may be a food/territory driven
>>> phenomena it is not simply a case of Snowy Owls, mostly young, being driven
>>> south to never return. From my experience in the Montreal Region, many owls
>>> make the trip south each year and have done so for a number of years. This
>>> has been confirmed through individuals with unique physical characteristics
>>> that could be used to identify them. They stay for the winter months and
>>> then head back north. At least I believe they head back north. They
>>> certainly leave southern Quebec.
>>>
>>>  Whether some of these birds remain through the summer or not is
>>> another matter. There are a number of bird families that irrupt south.
>>> Along these lines, every year Ron Pittaway publishes the winter finch
>>> forecast which predicts which finch species will irrupt south in the coming
>>> winter. In most cases the birds that irrupt south and survive head back
>>> north. However there are a number of cases where northern species have bred
>>> in the south. In Nova Scotia I would bet that a lot/most of the mainland
>>> Evening Grosbeaks that are still breeding are a result of a huge irruption
>>> that took place throughout eastern Canada in the 1970s (I think that's the
>>> time frame).
>>>
>>>  So I'd say that irruptions serve both an immediate survival role,
>>> sending excess population to other areas in search of food, and a mechanism
>>> that may result in an expansion of the species' range. Some of Nova
>>> Scotia's Snowy Owls may stay through the summer and perhaps survive. Some
>>> may leave and return again next year.
>>>
>>>  All the best,
>>>
>>>  Lance
>>>
>>>  *Lance Laviolette*
>>>  Glen Robertson, Ontario
>>>
>>>
>>>  *From:* naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [
>>> mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca <naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca>] *On
>>> Behalf Of *Shouty McShoutsalot
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, March 11, 2014 8:43 AM
>>> *To:* naturens
>>> *Subject:* EXTERNAL: Re: [NatureNS] Surviving Snowy Owls - What Next?
>>>
>>>  My understanding is that irruption and migration