Owl irruption in the Duluth area

Increased owl sightings, including those hit by cars

There is an owl irruption in the Duluth area, but many owls have died from starvation or from car-related injuries.

Photographers and bird watchers alike have seen an influx of owls in northeast Minnesota in the past month, specifically the Boreal and Great Gray species.

According to Minnesota Department of Natural Services (DNR) Nongame Wildlife Specialist Gaea Crozier, the common owls familiar to Minnesotans are the Great Horned Owl and the Barred Owl. There are also smaller Northern Saw-whet Owls. In the winter, several other species migrate from Canada.

“Naturally, owls will come down in the wintertime. But then we get years like this, where there’s an irruption, large numbers of owls are coming down,” said Crozier. “There are different reasons why owls will have these irruption years with owls. The reason this year is most likely due to food, like the voles and mice that they eat, and those numbers are low right now, so birds are coming down from Canada. We’re having, you know, boreal owls, really large numbers of boreal owls compared to a typical winter, and also quite a few great, great owls as well.”

Crozier added that northeast Minnesota has not had an irruption this large in almost 20 years.

“As owls are coming down, they’re hitting Lake Superior. And like a lot of birds, they just don’t want to cross this large body of water. So they kind of become concentrated or funneled around the Duluth area,” said Crozier.

There are no winter surveys done by the DNR, so this is based on people reporting the owls. Sadly, many of the reports are from people finding owls dead.

“We start getting more and more reports of dead owls as the winter progresses, or like, in the late fall, or like, it looks like something’s going to happen this year,” explained Crozier. “People are finding them dead from starvation, or they’re also being killed on roads.”

When someone finds an injured owl, the DNR will have them call a local wildlife rehabilitation center, such as Wildwoods. Jessica LaBumbard, the Executive Director of Wildwoods Wildlife Rehabilitation, says that most of the animals brought to the center have car-related injuries.

“Raptors, because of the placement of their eyes, they’re not easily going to see vehicles, and they’re not necessarily going to recognize vehicles on the road. So that’s also part of the problem,” explained LaBumbard. “Another part, depending on which bird you’re talking about, like, especially an eagle, it doesn’t lift up, it takes off. That’s also a lot of the ways that they’re hit by cars. It’s because they need space to be able to take off and fly.”

Great Gray Owl (Wildwoods, January 11, 2025)

Wildwoods will usually admit around 30 owls in a calendar year. This year, however, there have been 14 owls so far. Of that number, seven were Great Gray Owls, six were Boreal Owls, and there was one Snowy Owl. Out of the 14 owls, all but one had car-related injuries.

RELATED: Duluth woman rescues two owls

The weather is partially to blame.

“One of the issues that we’re having this year is that, particularly for our Boreal Owls, which are smaller, they just can’t get through that thick crust on the snow. This is a year where we have that kind of thick crust from all that cold weather that we had, and so they just can’t get at prey as easily,” said Crozier. Great Gray Owls, which are much bigger, have an easier time getting through that crust. And then when they’re having trouble getting food, owls are often attracted to the sides of roads where it might be easier to get at small rodents, and then they’re vulnerable to cars.” 

In addition to slowing down and being careful while driving, another way to help keep owls safe is by giving them space.

“People are really excited about them, so a lot of people are going out to look for these owls. But it’s really distressing to the owl, and when the owl has additional stress, it’s using calories that it doesn’t really have,” emphasized LaBumbard. “So I guess the thing that we’re most concerned about is if people do see these owls, please try to stay as far away as you can. Don’t encroach on the owl’s face. When an owl does get scared and flies away, again, the owl is expending calories that it doesn’t really have.”

If you see an injured owl, call your local wildlife rehabilitation center immediately.

“The first rule of thumb, of course, is if you are able to approach an owl and it doesn’t fly away, that indicates that there’s something wrong. And if you can pick it up, that certainly indicates that something is wrong,” said LaBumbard. “So during the day, before you do anything, it’s best to call us and we can talk to you about the situation. If it’s evening and we’re closed and you are able to get the owl, again, that indicates that there’s something wrong with it, we would ask that you put them in a box or a dog kennel and that you leave the owl alone. Put it in a quiet, safe, and dark space. Don’t take photos, and please don’t show other people the owl, and then keep pets and everything else away just so that the owl can de-stress because it’s an extremely stressful situation for them when they’re caught by humans.”