Manitoba birding community having a hoot as owl population booms

Owl populations in Manitoba are booming right now, including our official provincial bird – the great gray owl.

Manitoba’s birding community is having a hoot this year thanks to an ‘exceptional’ boom in owl populations.

Wildlife photographer Jennifer Normand said she had a breathtaking experience when she came across a snowy owl in southeastern Manitoba last month.

“They’re just a beautiful creature. So to be able to look at one in person so close is really a gift,” she said.

“I feel like I got pretty lucky this year.”Normand is not alone. Several people in the Manitoba Birding Facebook group have been getting some up-close moments with owls—some for the first time in their lives.

Jim Duncan, a retired biologist who has spent decades studying owls in Manitoba, said there is a reason.

“They’re going through a population boom right now,” Duncan told CTV News. “It’s a phenomenon that happens every three to five years, but this year seems to be exceptional in terms of the numbers.”

He said there are hundreds of owls in southern Manitoba right now.

Duncan said Manitoba’s official provincial bird—the Great Gray Owl—is a good example. It hunts almost exclusively meadow voles. He said just two years ago, the species was “as scarce as hen’s teeth.”

“What we’re noticing is that these birds are probably coming from further north, where they had really good vole populations in previous years,” he said. “Now up north, those vole populations have crashed. So now these owls are coming south.”

Duncan said it’s important for folks to remember to respect nature and keep a healthy distance from the owls but encouraged people to get out into nature and enjoy the show.

He said reports or photos of owls from across Manitoba are really helpful for biologists studying the creatures.

“We wouldn’t have the success we’ve enjoyed in studying great gray owls, barn owls, northern hawk owls, without the help from the public,” he said. “They’ve been very generous in sharing that information with us. So hats off to Manitobans for being such great citizen scientists and helping out.”

He said Manitobans can report owl sightings to Discover Owls online.