A snowy owl that drew birdwatchers to Hardin County from throughout Ohio in recent weeks was found dead yesterday morning according to a story in The Dispatch (Columbus).
The bird, whose photo was on the cover of The Dispatch earlier this month, appears to have starved to death, said a bird expert who examined the body.
Jacqueline Augustine, an assistant professor of biology at Ohio State University’s Lima campus, said she was alerted to the dead owl by birders who found it in the same general area where it has been spotted for several weeks.
It had been seen alive as recently as Saturday.
Augustine, who specializes in ornithology, said an external exam revealed clear signs of starvation.
“It didn’t have much muscle left,” Augustine said.
Jim McCormac, a naturalist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, said: “Probably more birds than we’d like to think suffer that fate.”
This winter has seen an increase in the number of snowy owl sightings across the United States. Typically denizens of the far north tundra, the birds periodically drift south and spend the winter in warmer climes.
Naturalists say the phenomenon has nothing to do with temperatures — the owls are quite comfortable in Arctic subzero temperatures — but with their food supply.
Naturalists believe that population explosions of lemmings occasionally lead to a corresponding increase in the owls. The more they eat, the more owlets are hatched.
When winter sets in and food sources grow scarce, younger birds tend to venture far from home in search of better hunting grounds.
The Hardin County bird became something of a celebrity since its arrival just north of the hamlet of Roundhead, as birders directed one another to the area in hopes of a glimpse of the uncommon visitor.
Twelve to 15 snowy owls have been reported throughout the state so far this winter. Typically there are only one or two, McCormac said.
Even as birders lamented the loss of the Hardin County owl, Internet reports of others are surfacing closer to Columbus. Reports are trickling in that a pair of owls might be in the area of Kenny and Ackerman roads, and at least one possible sighting has occurred off Rt. 104 at the Pickaway-Franklin County line.
