For me, the thought of winter owls usually comes just after the big flights of southbound songbirds have thinned out, the temperature dips into the 30's, and the large flocks of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos find my feeders once again. Owls are mysterious enough without trying to understand their migration. Virtually silent on the wing, stone-cold still when perched, and active mostly during the hours when our human eyes are worthless; Owls are enigmatic.

For a Floridian transplanted into New Jersey, the one owl that has captivated me the most before ever laying eyes on it was definitely the Snowy Owl. Snowies are circumpolar in their distribution; breeding on the windswept open tundra where "high ground" is usually limited to rocky outcroppings only a few meters high. By late fall the owls begin their southbound migration out of the tundra and begin arriving on wintering grounds in November, continuing through January, and sometimes remaining into late spring (although most leave by early March). If the food supply is sufficient, many snowies will set up territories for the entire winter, making them a great bird to "chase" once one has been located.

Lucky for us, New Jersey and New York are within the annual wintering range of this majestic species. Snowy Owls winter in habitat structurally similar to their tundra breeding grounds. They are often found in open landscapes such as coastal dunes and agricultural areas, as well as human-altered landscapes such as airport fields. While many birds are found in expansive natural areas, like the Brigantine and Holgate units of the Forsythe NWR, they're also found quite regularly in more urbanized coastal areas such as the Shark River estuary in Belmar. In the latter cases it's not uncommon to find the owl perched atop a streetlight, or water tower. So, although they spend most of their time in low-stature habitat, don't forget to scan those distant perches up high as well.

The magnitude of Snowy Owl migration appears to be linked somewhat to the population of lemmings on the tundra, their primary source of food. It was once believed that this connection was quite strong, and that every four years lemming numbers crashed, and a large owl flight would follow. Recent studies have painted a more complex picture, where snowy owls show large variation in the migration strategies employed by various populations across their range. Some birds migrate long distances each year regardless of lemming numbers, while others appear nomadic in their strategy, migrating according to the lemming cycle, and breeding wherever they find large densities of their prey (as crossbills do, according to cone crops). Either way, we can expect a few snowy owls almost every year here in New Jersey, and with a little patience and a keen eye, you might just spot one on your own.

High quality snowy habitat can be found at many locations throughout New York and New Jersey, such as Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Brooklyn and Queens, NY. Open marsh, high concentrations of ducks (a primary food source for snowies wintering along the coasts) and proximity to the JFK airport fields (jackrabbits galore) make this area prime real estate for snowy owls. The coastal dunes of the nearby beaches have also held snowies in multiple winters. In New Jersey snowies have been reported in multiple years from Liberty State Park (one already this winter), Sandy Hook, Shark River Estuary, Island Beach State Park, Barnegate Inlet, the aforementioned areas within the Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, and Stone Harbor point.