On Sun, 3 Nov 1996, Christopher Hill wrote:

[snip..]

> While eating breakfast at Denny's in Everett this morning, I heard someone
> at the next table describe the "Snowy White Owl"...

Tweets--

..the recent posts about the Snowy Owls got me thinking...I dug
around in Bent and talked to a Naturalist/photographer friend
and he thought many of the Snowys we see down here are a
result of their moving because of too much competition for
food, or driven out by more dominant owls..etc.. the kicker
was that he remembered some info, which he couldn't find
immediately, that indicated many of those owls don't make it
back to breed because of a number of factors..i.e., they
stick out in the environment like a beacon and are often
relentlessly mobbed by crows, don't have the natural coloring
of our native owls, compete with the local raptors, are
weakened as a result of being run out of their own territory,
are young and inexperienced, etc..

Bent says--
*it has been postulated that few if any of the owls
that make the flight south ever return to their
northern habitat. Unfortunately, it it true
that many of these fine birds are killed ruthlessly..*
Life Histories N. American Birds of Prey
Vol II p. 372


Admittedly, that was based on pretty old data (1902) and we all
love reading Bent, but realize that veracity is only one aspect
of a story, and sometimes not the most important..However, given
even that, I'm wondering if anyone knows of any band return
info or anything that might shed some light on this situation.

Tom