KCTV 5Arctic owls spotted in KC area

An uncommon Arctic visitor has been spotted in parts of Missouri and Kansas.

Spotted perched upon chimneys, atop trees, and gliding through the cold Midwestern air, snowy owls have moved to the area in search of food.

The large, white owls with black markings are rarely seen in this area and only when their winter food supply is short in their natural habitats to the north, said Mark Robbins, an ornithologist at the University of Kansas who also does bird studies in Missouri.

Bird watchers in recent weeks have watched and photographed three snowy owls in the Smithville Lake area, and at least eight have been seen in Kansas, according to Robbins.

Snowy owls feed on lemmings, a small rodent found in the arctic tundra. When snowy owls are spotted in the Midwest, it's typically due to a crash in the lemming populations. Lemming populations rise and fall in three- to five-year cycles.

The three snowy owls spotted at Smithville Lake have been seen most often in the Little Platte Park area north of Smithville. The national Audubon Society conducted a study at the lake Saturday and spotted the birds.

There were 89 species of birds noted in Saturday's count at the lake, but the snowy owls were the most unusual, according to Linda Williams a member of the Osage Trails Chapter of the Missouri Master Naturalist Program. Three snowy owls in one general area could be a record number for one day's count in the Kansas City area.

Unfortunately, most owls that make it this far south during winter months do not survive to make a return trip to the arctic tundra in the spring, Robbins said. Some are already starved and too weak. The owls are used to a solitary life on the tundra with few humans and other natural predators, and they are not used to avoiding automobile traffic.

Anyone taking pictures of the snowy owls is welcome to send pictures to Robbins via email at mrobbins@ku.edu. If you're lucky enough to snap a photo, and you're interested in sending it to Robbins, he asks a couple favors. A close-up picture is best. If the nape, the back of the head and the tail are visible in the picture, Robbins can identify the sex and the age of the owl. You're also asked to send information on when and where the owl was spotted.   

The pictures of the owls attached to this article were taken in the Smithville Lake area by Linda Williams. One owl was atop a chimney, the other was in a tree at Little Platte Park.

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