What to do if you see an emaciated snowy owl in Nova Scotia

It's not every day you see a snowy owl in Nova Scotia.

The majestic birds spend their summers in the Arctic tundra and then fly south to Canada — including Nova Scotia — during the winter months.

Diane LeBlanc, the president of the Nova Scotia Bird Society, said there have been more sightings of the bird than usual this year, but some owls appear to be weak and starving.

On Tuesday, Portia Clark, the host of CBC Radio's Information Morning in Halifax, spoke with LeBlanc about why this is happening and what people should do — or not do — if they see a snowy owl.

This discussion has been edited for length and clarity.

Snowy owls are an Arctic bird, as I understand it. Are they supposed to be here in Nova Scotia at this time of year or is this rare? 

They do visit the province every year so it's not rare to see them in the province. They actually summer in the Arctic tundra, but they winter in southern Canada and the northern United States, so they do have a migratory pattern. 

Some of them would stay in the tundra all winter, but many do come south. What we're seeing this year, though, is we're seeing quite a large number in the province. 

Can you describe what conditions some of them are in?

It's very hard to know what kind of condition they are in because snowy owls are typically found on the ground, so when you see them, you might think that they're not in great condition because they don't seem to be flying around — but they're hunting. 

They're very good at listening. They're very good at listening for their prey, so they're able to hear prey when we can't see it or hear it. 

So that's what they're doing on the ground, they're not [in distress]. It's hard to know looking at an owl, whether it's in good shape or not, but you can assume that they're OK.

Where have you been seeing reports of these snowy owls around Nova Scotia?

We're seeing more than usual in the province. In the Bird Society, we're getting reports of them from Yarmouth to Cape Breton. We've had a report of four on the Grand Pré fields in the Kentville-Wolfville area.

I was out for a walk the other day and my husband saw an owl in the Duncan's Cove area, which is an unusual place for us to see one.

What details do you have about the weak or emaciated owls that have been reported recently? 

What I know is that there have been three that have been admitted to wildlife centres and two of them seem to be surviving or hopefully surviving. One of them has died. 

Sometimes they are emaciated because it's a long flight from the Arctic to Nova Scotia, and what happens is when there's an abundance of birds in the Arctic, it's mostly the juveniles that fly to the province or southern areas, and they're not the best hunters.

They have to learn to hunt and just missing a couple of mice could really be detrimental to them, so that's why it's really important not to disturb them because they're right on the precipice. They have to get here and find food really quickly. 

Are they being affected by the lack of food, perhaps in the Arctic, before they take off to head south? 

Scientists used to think that they had a problem with the food supply, but it doesn't seem that that's the case. It seems like when the food supply is abundant, they will lay more eggs.

They typically lay about five to seven eggs per nest, but when there's an abundance of food, they can lay up to 16 eggs. So then what you have is a whole bunch of snowy owls that need to find a place to hunt.

We used to think that they were hungry before they left the grounds, but that's probably not the case. It's probably more likely that they're just starving and maybe even dehydrated from the long flight.

You mentioned one of the owls that had arrived here had died. This was at one of the wildlife rescue centres?

Yes. So there's three real risks to the birds. One is starvation, as we've already talked about. Another is that they don't — because they're in the Arctic — they're not used to cars or power lines so they can run into a car or run into a power line and that could kill them. 

The third big risk is that at this time of the year, people are trying to avoid rats and mice coming into their houses and they sometimes will use poison, and that poisoning of the food supply of owls will also poison the owl itself. So it's important to not use poison and to try to eradicate [pests]. 

So if people see an owl on the ground being very still, they shouldn't approach the animal because it's likely hunting?

That's right. They are very afraid of people. If you see it, it sees you. If it seems fidgety or looks your way, you're too close. 

And you have to remember that they hunt during the day and night. They're used to Arctic conditions, so a 24-hour day of light in the summer and 24-hour nights, so they hunt both night and day. 

So even though you might think you're not disrupting it because you're seeing it in a day, if you see it, you're likely disrupting its search for prey. 

And that would be pretty stressful to see a big human coming toward them?

That's right. If you see one in the field, you should just assume that it's OK. If it's obviously injured, you can call a rehab, but for the most part we should just leave them be. 

You should also consider that if you're seeing an owl, you may not be the only person, so it's not just your presence you need to consider — it's the presence of multiple people over the day that really can be disruptive to the owls.

What rescue centres should people call if they do see an obviously injured owl?

Hope for Wildlife and the Cobequid Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre are both well prepared to deal with these owls that are injured or emaciated.