Snowy owls are beautiful, but experts in Kansas say not to get too close | The Wichita Eagle

This year is being called one of the most unprecedented snowy owl invasions of all time.

Since Nov. 16, when the first snowy owl was spotted in Kansas, more than 80 sightings of the birds have been reported. Kansas wildlife biologists say this may be only the beginning.

A normal year may garner one or two reported sightings of the birds from the Arctic.

“It is extraordinary and exciting. It’s unprecedented and never before been like this in recorded history, this kind of invasion,” said Mark Robbins, collection manager of ornithology at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute.

The closest the state has ever come to seeing this many snowy owls was during the winter of 1974 and 1975, when 80 were recorded in Kansas – but that was at the end of a long winter.

There may be far more this winter.

“What we are interested in is what this next cold front will bring,” Robbins said. “We are wondering if this will bring loads more birds down here. There is more snow cover up north and, with the snow, it is more difficult for the owls to find rodents and birds for food. We think we may get another major movement down here.”

The snowy owl invasion has covered more than half the state, and the newest residents in Kansas have created a plethora of paparazzi opportunities. Newspaper and TV stories have helped create enthusiasm for the birds. And, on any given weekend, it’s not unusual to see a string of SUVs and cars lined up on Kansas’ back roads as people stare into spotting scopes and binoculars looking for the birds.

But that has some birders concerned. They fear people are getting too close to the birds.

The Hutchinson News recently reported that a Hutchinson man was able to get as close as 10 feet to a snowy owl before it flew off. It was seen in a ditch about three miles from Sterling. When he returned to the site later, it was sitting in a nearby field.

“A lot of these birds are starving,” Robbins said. “Many of these birds are barely getting by. Whenever we disturb them, we are preventing them from hunting. They are living on the edge. They are so starved from flying all the way from the Arctic. We should encourage people to stay a couple hundred feet away — minimum. Actually, that is too conservative: a good 300 feet and don’t go any closer than that.”

Christopher Rogers, an associate professor in the department of biological sciences at Wichita State University, agrees.

“It is complex and it depends on the condition of the bird. Many of them are exhausted, tired birds,” Rogers said. “When you are able to walk up on them and they won’t flush, it means they don’t have much strength. You are wasting their energy reserves if they flush — energy they could have used for hunting.”

Bob Gress, director of the Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, says it is good that people are seeing the birds and photographing them.

“It does more good than harm because it gives people a sense about caring for these birds,” Gress said.

But it is a mistake, he said, for people to believe that many of these birds will return at winter’s end to the Arctic. Many will die along the way, from hunger, from flying into utility lines, from being struck by vehicles. Many of the snowy owls spotted in Kansas are juveniles, about 6 months old, and not used to the hazards of Kansas.

“More will die than will return,” Gress said.

The birds prefer solitary vistas. On vast horizons they appear as small white dots.

“I have seen eight different snowy owls,” said Wichita birder Paul Griffin. His first was Dec. 2 at Marion Lake. “I saw two at Butler County, two at Quivira and then there was one at Cheney and two at Cheyenne Bottoms. I have video of all of them and pictures. Some are better than others. I am trying to document this as much as I can.”

Griffin was also one of the first birders to list concerns on an online Kansas birding forum about how close people should get to the birds.

“The birds are resting during the daytime, and people are walking right out into the fields to take photos,” Griffin said. ... If you are close enough to see the yellow eyes, you are probably too close. I approach slowly. Now if one lands near me, I’m not going to leave it but I am also not going to impinge on a bird — not as beautiful as these owls are.”