After ruling out species I'm familiar with, I consulted field guides to try and classify the owl. I think it is a Northern Hawk Owl - but as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words...please, birders, give me your thousand words of confirmation, disagreement, etc. so I can correctly ID the owl!
(A HUGE thanks to Tara for the use of the photo!)
The owl seemed fairly unconcerned with the human attention it drew, but was distinctly uncomfortable when a flock of chickadees surrounded it. The chickadees did not actually "mob" the owl, as I've seen crows do, but surrounded it and started "looking at it funny"...after about a minute of being surrounded by chickadees, the owl flew to a different perch, where there were no chickadees to hassle it.
After about 45 minutes of being admired, the owl flew away into some dense forest.
The Manitoba Rare Bird Alert system states the Northern Hawk Owl is a rare (about one sighting per year) bird in the Southern Manitoba Prairie region. I count myself very fortunate to have been in the right place, at the right time, to see the owl.
If you have seen this owl - or if you'd like to confirm or dispute my ID- please do so!
A very Happy New Year to everyone. Keep it fun, keep it safe, and get outside today or tonight...it's cold, but it's beautiful!
Hi Barret,
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely a NHO - Northern Hawk Owl, good sighting and an amazing one for FWA too! I'll have to keep an eye out for one there now!
Stuart Oikawa