In some years, great numbers of Snowy Owls come south from the Arctic to reside in fields, farmlands, and shorelines.
In the past, it was believed that population crashes of lemmings on the breeding grounds caused many owls to come south but their movements are more complex and unpredictable than that.
The years that we see many Snowy Owls actually seem to be the result of an abundance of lemmings on the breeding grounds and thus, throngs of hungry young owls.
See the video by Gerrit Vyn at the BirdNote site.
Broadcast on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at 8:58 a.m.
