Great Grey Owl at UBC

A great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) has been haunting the campus at UBC. Local birdwatching enthusiasts have been observing the owl in Vancouver since the middle of December, first at Stanley Park, then Jericho Beach and now on the UBC campus.

The great grey owl is the tallest of the North American owls and is typically found in boreal forests - it is distributed through much of northern North America and north Eurasia. According to Mark Wynja, a great grey owl visiting the Lower Mainland of British Columbia is an uncommon experience, roughly occurring every two to three years. According to the National Geographic Society's "Birds of North America" book, its hunting habits vary by season - hunting by day in the summer in some parts of its range, but also often at dawn, dusk or night. It is also a photogenic bird, as it is not easily disturbed when humans approach and it tends to sit in one place for an extended period of time.

I chanced upon seeing the bird on the UBC campus while picking up my lunch; a group of birdwatchers and photographers had gathered across the lane from where it was perched. I'd personally like to thank Mark Wynja for taking the time to talk with me (a complete stranger) about the bird and sharing his spotting scope, his enthusiasm and his knowledge about the owl.

Links:

Birders flock to Vancouver park for rare glimpse of great grey owl from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
BC Vancouver Birds Discussion Group
Vancouver Rare Bird Alert from the Vancouver Natural History Society
Great grey owl from the University of Michigan Animal Diversity site
Great grey owl photographs from the CalPhoto web site at Berkeley

Follow-up: Some suggestions for observing the bird

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 1:31 PM on January 21, 2004