Are snowy owls marine species?
Toronto, Dec 11 (IANS) Wildlife studies could prompt a radical re-think on how the snowy owl fits into the northern ecosystem. “Six of the adult females that we followed in a satellite study spent most of last winter far out on the Arctic sea ice,” said Universite Laval doctoral student Jean-Francois Therrien. He is working with Gilles Gauthier, a professor as part of an International Polar Year (IPY) research project to better understand key indicator species of Canadian northern ecosystems. The finding flabbergasted the biologists who are now curious to find out if Inuit seal hunters ever encounter the large white birds on the ice in winter darkness. “As for what the birds were doing there, they were possibly preying on seabirds,” said Gauthier. “Bird researchers at coastal field sites have observed snowy owls attacking eiders in winter.” “This hypothesis will be strengthened if we can match up the locations of our birds with the position of open water leads in the ice as recorded by
