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Ask the Master Naturalist: Minnesota hosts a variety of owls — both native and visitors alike

Last week near Duluth, a very large white owl was likely a snowy owl, a mostly white Arctic visitor just under 2 feet long with yellow eyes and a black beak amid a rare Minnesota winter irruption.
Researchers found a 2013–14 study that shows lemmings' abundance and juvenile owls' southward movement challenge hunger-driven theories, with a lemming-fueled owlet boom forcing juveniles south.
The great gray owl is Minnesota's largest, hunting voles and mice by diving into snow, and owls can consume over 4,000 rodents yearly, benefiting property owners.
To attract owls, homeowners can leave dying trees or install nesting boxes to support cavity-nesters like barred and eastern screech owls; boreal, burrowing, northern hawk, short-eared, and barn owls may also appear.
Repeating events show past southward movements of Arctic owls including the uncommon short-eared owl raise conservation concerns, The Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota monitors these cycles amid habitat loss.

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