An arctic-native white-feathered snowy owl has been seen atop a home in Southern California for the first time in more than 100 years.
Bird watchers from across the state drove hours to catch a glimpse of the owl, which is only one of about 30,000 left in the world.
The bird was seen hopping from one roof to the next in Cypress several times throughout the week, reports CNBC.
How the owl traveled more than 2,000 miles south remains a mystery, but some speculate that it hitchhiked on a ship or escaped from captivity.
A Rare Sighting: An arctic native snowy owl has been spotted atop a home in Southern California
Snowy owls are native to the arctic tundra, with mottled black and white feathers that allow them to blend in with the winter habitat.
But while the birds sometimes fly south of Canada, they typically land on sandy beaches and rarely make it to southern California.
Snowy owls are the largest North American owls, spending most of their time in the Arctic and wintering in Canada and Alaska.
In some years, some have remained in their breeding ranges year-round, while others migrate to southern Canada and the northern half of the United States during the winter.
Rob Young, who works for Santa Ana River Wildlife, told CNBC, “I consider it an honor to be able to see the bird [in California].
“I sort of put a feather in my cap, no pun intended.”
The snowy owl perched atop the palm-tree-surrounded home, and at least 30 people stood in the area at one time.
Some local bird experts are speculating that the owl could be the same bird spotted in Los Angeles County near the Port of Los Angeles a few weeks ago, but no one can be sure.
Vic Leipzig, a local, told The Orange County Register: “Having so many people standing there and looking at this thing was very exciting to me.
“And not just people who are well traveled, as I expected, but also people from the neighborhood.”
Because the snowy owl is native to frigid environments, people are looking for clues as to how it got to sunny California.
An expert suspects that the owl could have been on board a ship.
The bird was spotted hopping from one roof to the next several times over the week
Bird watchers from across the state drove hours to catch a glimpse of the owl, which is only one of about 30,000 left in the world
“As strange as it may sound, I hear stories of what are known as pelagic birds, or seabirds in particular, that land on ships and stay on the ship for hundreds of miles, sometimes until the ship arrives in port,” said Leipzig, Sea & Sage Audubon Society.
“So an owl could do that? Doesn’t seem quite as likely, but I don’t think we can rule out any of those ideas.’
Another snowy owl ventured into Washington DC in January and toured iconic buildings in the nation’s capital.
Snowy owls are the largest North American owls, spending most of their time in the Arctic and wintering in Canada and Alaska. Wildlife officials said this was the first sighting in Southern California in more than 100 years
The snowy owl perched atop the palm-tree-surrounded home, and at least 30 people stood in the area at one time
Far from their summer breeding grounds in Canada, the snowy owl was first seen on January 3 when a winter storm threw eight inches of snow over the city.
It was sighted in the evening flying through Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, landing on Union Station, the National Postal Museum, various Senate buildings and the Capitol Police Headquarters.
“Snowy owls come from a part of the world where they see almost nothing human, a completely treeless open arctic tundra,” said Scott Weidensaul, a researcher with the nonprofit project SNOWStorm, which tracks snowy owl movements.
Another snowy owl ventured into Washington DC in January and toured iconic buildings in the nation’s capital
A rare snowy owl looks down from its perch at the allegorical statue of Archimedes by Louis St. Gaudens in Washington January 7, 2022
Weidensaul said some owls migrate south of the Arctic every winter, but numbers fluctuate.
Roughly every three to five years, an increase in the lemming population, their main food source, results in greater numbers of surviving owl chicks. During these years of “slump,” more birds migrate and keep migrating.
Most winters, North American snowy owls don’t get far below the Great Lakes or Cape Cod area, Weidensaul said.
“However, in eruption years, they tend to go further south than they normally would,” he said.
“Many of the snowy owls we now see in the East and upper Midwest are fledglings on their first migration.”