Contact: Symposium Coordinator

Julie O’Connor at: 218-348-2291

   OwlsOnTheMove@aol.com

OWLS ON THE MOVE…When, Where and Why

A Symposium on Northern Owls

March 17-19, 2006Duluth, MN

In October 2004, as we were preparing for another long, northern Minnesota winter, nature brought us an amazing gift.  Great Gray Owls and Northern Hawk Owls were reported throughout Northeastern Minnesota, and it became clear that we were on the verge of a periodic invasion, or “irruption” that occurs every 10 years or so.  By early December, the realization dawned on us that this was an irruption like never before; something to be recorded and enjoyed!  Birders were reporting hundreds of northern owls, birds driven to Minnesota by a lack of food on their northern breeding territories.  In previous irruption years, one might expect to see a handful of Great Grays or Hawk Owls on a drive through their remote forested habitat.  Last winter, people were seeing dozens of birds in those same areas!  One birder commented that the trees were ‘dripping with owls’. 

This amazing spectacle attracted national attention drawing people from all over the United States.  Hotels and restaurants across northern Minnesota were filled with excited, binocular toting visitors from California to New York. They were drawn to Minnesota in frigid January to witness for themselves this once in a lifetime event.

Researchers in Northern Minnesota quickly started documenting this irruption.  With a corps of enthusiastic volunteers, survey routes were established, owls were counted and reported, injured birds were driven to rehab centers, and dead birds were collected, weighed, measured, recorded and shipped to the Field Museum in Chicago for further analysis.  Banders took to the roads, trapping and banding over 500 birds throughout the winter.  In all, a lot of data was captured during this irruption; data that may never be matched for it’s sheer quantity!

As a result of all of this, a consortium of birding organizations have organized a weekend symposium at the University of Minnesota Duluth to examine the ‘When, Where and Why’ of last year’s amazing owl irruption.  The symposium is organized by: Audubon Minnesota, Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth, Duluth Audubon Society, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Non Game Wildlife Program, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, and supported by the Lake Superior Zoo, The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul and Wolf Ridge ELC.

Friday evening, March 17, 2006 will kick off the symposium with a family-focused Northern Owl Fair featuring owl storytellers, music, art, owl callers, games, and programs featuring live owls. 

Saturday, March 18, will be a full day of history, research, and analysis of northern owl irruptions, with an emphasis on the winter of 2004/05.  Speakers will also discuss past irruptions in Minnesota, the United States, and Canada.  We will also learn about the habitat, feeding habits, breeding status and management for owls in northern forests.  Our keynote speaker, Pertti Saurola, will give us insight from his lifetime of research on similar owls in Finland.  A poster session will follow presentations on Saturday afternoon.

A banquet Saturday evening will be open to the public.  Mike Furtman, a local author and photographer will showcase the beauty and mystery of the irruption.

Sunday, March 19, provides symposium participants the opportunity to get involved with the experts!  Discussion groups and workshops are scheduled on topics including ecotourism, the future of owls/owl research, photography, educating with and about owls, wildlife rehabilitation and other volunteer opportunities and owl banding.

Registration for the weekend is $45 (before 2/20; $60 after 2/20), and banquet tickets are $20 per person.

We hope you’ll join us at this event!

More details are available at www.hawkridge.org

#######