A great grey owl is not what usually gets weighed on the nail scale at the Northside, Sask., lumber store. Two local farmers brought their road kill into the shop last week, curious to learn of its 2.7 pound size before handing it over to conservation officers.
A shortage of mice in the boreal forest has drawn out large numbers of reclusive owls this year and made them more vulnerable to collisions with vehicles.
Stuart Houston, who has been banding birds for 58 years, said that has produced a rare occasion for Saskatch-ewan naturalists to study them from Loon Lake to Hudson Bay. The shortage of voles or meadow mice in the bush has forced owls to swoop down on mice around farms and feedlots. It’s a similar story in Manitoba and Alberta.
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The placid creatures are easily banded because they are unfamiliar with humans and apparently unafraid. They are lured with baits of live mice placed on snowbanks, then netted, banded and released.
The banding allows researchers to study owls up close, track where they go and how long they live, and to count their numbers. Houston noted most birds seem healthy and well-fed.
“Some of us think it is the most beautiful bird in the world,” he said of the owl that can hear a mouse 100 metres away under a foot of snow.
Active banding has been under way in Saskatchewan since February and already 123 great grey owls have been tagged.
It is now winding down as the birds return to the forest to begin nesting in early April. Houston said the owls never build their own nests, but find ones deserted by goshawks and red-tailed hawks.
The newer model bands contain 1-800 telephone numbers that people can call to report downed birds. Others should be reported to local conservation officers.
Houston relies heavily on sightings from a large network of farmers like Marten Stossel, who has a dairy farm north of Saskatoon.
The native of Holland and licensed bird bander pays his own way to get close enough to talk to his beloved owls.
“If you’ve ever held an owl in your hands, you’re hooked,” he said.
“It’s a rush. Instead of going out for supper, I watch owls.”
Brent Terry shares his love and knowledge of the birds in photo collections, displays and videos shown to the children who attend the Saskatoon school where he works as a janitor.
Featuring cat-sized legs, needle sharp claws, mottled brown coloring, a flat face and round head, these “big, beautiful and soft” owls generally weigh between two and three pounds.
Owls are on a birdwatcher’s most wanted list, said Terry, who has logged more than 15,000 kilometres on his car since October in search of the elusive, secretive and little understood birds. Terry has helped net 42 great greys this season.
“An eagle freak,” Terry also became smitten with owls last summer after discovering a great horned owl’s nest at Blackstrap Lake south of Saskatoon.
He learned of Houston’s work with birds and came on board, but not just for scientific reasons.
“I literally love the great grey owl,” he said. “They almost have a personality. I love being in contact with the birds and holding them.”
