The influx of great gray owls that moved south into northwest Minnesota from their traditional wintering range in Canada has been perhaps the biggest news in the bird world so far this year.
This irruption, as it's known in scientific terms, only occurs every several years, usually in response to lax food supplies. That was the case with the great grays, which showed up in force in February after populations of mice, voles and other small mammals on which they feed ran low.
The irruption also presented a learning opportunity for several students at the University of Minnesota-Crookston, who accompanied raptor expert Tim Driscoll on five excursions to capture and band great gray owls near Roseau, Minn., in an area that is a traditional hotspot for the birds.
Director of the Urban Raptor Research Project, Driscoll, of Grand Forks, also teaches a course in raptor ecology at UMC.
Driscoll, who has a federal permit to band owls and other raptors, said he and his students caught and banded six great gray owls and two northern hawk owls -- also visitors from the north -- during their trips to the Roseau area. UMC staff member Laura Bell and her husband, Jeff, also were along on one of the banding excursions.
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According to Driscoll, they caught the birds by setting a mouse or rat below a perching owl as bait and then using a large landing net to subdue the owl when it swooped down for an easy meal.
Great gray owls might look big, Driscoll said, but they're mostly feathers. He said the owls they sampled by Roseau seemed weak and had no fat reserves.
Besides the chance to capture and band owls, the banding excursions provided rare, up-close photo opportunities for the students. Here's a sampling of the photos the students shared.
-- Brad Dokken
