Snowy Owl Released Back Into Wild Near Green Bay

Young Owls Migrating Earlier Because Of Weather

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snowy owl
Brian Scott (CC-BY-NC-ND)  

Rehabilitators from the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary released a snowy owl on Tuesday in Green Bay.

Officials with the state Department of Natural Resources said snowy owls normally migrate to Wisconsin in the winter, but that this year, young owls are being spotted in the state earlier than usual.

The 1-year-old owl was undernourished when it was spotted in the smokestack of a local microbrewery in October. Usually, the birds aren’t seen in the region until later in the winter.

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Brent Weycker operates Titletown Brewery where the owl, nicknamed “Reggie,” was seen through a window that had been installed in the smokestack. He said spotting the owl was suprising.

“It was an evening and we were like, ‘Oh, how are we going to get that out of there?’” Weycker said.

It’s relatively easy to get an owl out of a smokestack compared to finding out why the young birds are appearing earlier than usual.

Joshua Martinez, a DNR wildlife biologist, said this year’s warm wet winter would normally slow down the birds’ movements, since they’re used to arctic conditions.

“This was definitely an early bird,” said Martinez. “Typically, we don’t see them showing up until the end of November or the beginning of December and so that early influx we don’t know what attributed to making them appear down here as early as they did.”

Martinez said researchers around the nation are studying snowy owl migration. Some suspect food and the owl’s population might be driving factors.

As more owls are born, the younger ones must move south find hunting territory to find prey.

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