Cool Critters: Great grey owl makes a rare visit to Inland Northwest

The great grey owl, the largest owl in North America whose round, flat face, bright yellow eyes and silent flight conveys an unworldly appearance, touched down in Spokane County.

And it isn’t normally here.

Typically found in the very cold and snowy boreal forests of Alaska and Canada, “it is rare to see them in Washington state, particularly in areas like Spokane County,” said conservation biologist Emilie Kohler of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

It’s unclear when the great grey was first spotted among a mix of trees and open meadows in Spokane County. But when Nancy Taylor-Babcock of Post Falls learned of its appearance a few days after Christmas, “I knew I had to see that owl,” she said.

A wildlife photographer with a soft spot for owls, Taylor-Babcock wept the first time she saw a great-horned owl, she recalled. So when, on Jan. 2, she aimed her telephoto lens at the visiting great grey perched on a ponderosa pine snag, “I kept telling myself to breathe, slow and steady,” she said.

As Taylor-Babcock snapped photographs from about 30 yards away, the great grey fixed its gaze at her, she recalled. Occasionally, though, it would swivel its head as if scanning the ground nearby.

It was scanning, alright, but not with its eyes. Most likely, it was listening for scurrying prey in a thicket of dried grass. Great greys, like barn owls and saw-whets, rely mostly on sound to hunt, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Its circular, flat face acts like a satellite dish, gathering sound waves and then channeling them to the owl’s ears.

Sure enough, the owl suddenly launched from its perch and glided silently before swooping down to snatch a vole in its talons. “I didn’t hear a single sound,” Taylor-Babcock said.

How is a tall bird with a 5-foot wingspan capable of hushed flight? Great greys possess a thick, velvety coating on their flight feathers and comb-like serrations on their wing edges, according to the Cornell lab website. These special adaptations allow “silent flight that reduce wing noise to almost nothing.”

The small numbers that live here are found in the Okanogan Highlands, the Blue Mountains and parts of the Cascade Range, Kohler explained – all remote, high-elevation areas with no humans nearby.

So why would one show up in Spokane County, home to more than a half-million people?

“Probably to gain better access to voles, its main food source,” according to great-grey owl expert Katherine Gura, a research scientist at Colorado State University and author of “Phantom of the North: Great Grey Owls of the Tetons and Yellowstone.”

Judging by the color and pattern of our owl visitor’s wing tips, the bird is an adult, Gura said. It may have ventured from its remote highland range in Washington in search of hunting grounds not covered with a layer of thick ice, she explained.

December was unusually rainy in Washington, and a number of higher locations received heavy rain, followed by snow and then more rain.

“These rain-on-snow conditions probably led to severe ice crust events” in the owl’s native habitat, she explained

“Great greys are adept at penetrating snow – even deep snow – to capture voles, but if the snow is covered with a hard ice crust, they can’t break through the surface to reach the prey,” Gura said. What’s more, sometimes they get injured or stuck after striking a thick icy surface, she added.

Our great grey visitor hasn’t been seen in a few days. It may have returned to its home to see if hunting conditions improved, Gura explained. Or it might have moved to another part of Spokane County to evade an influx of human onlookers as word of its presence spread.

“Most people I saw were quiet, respectful and kept their distance,” said Taylor-Babcock, whose photographs appear in today’s column.

A good thing, too, since human-caused noise and activity (such as getting too close) can rattle great greys, disrupting their ability to hunt and rest, Gura said.

“When great grays are seen outside their native range, people tend to perceive them as having a calm demeanor because they don’t flush like great-horned owls,” she explained. “In reality, they’re putting up with people because they need to access food. This doesn’t mean they’re not stressed.”

It’s possible the great grey owl will reappear before returning to its native home to see if hunting conditions have improved. Should that happen, we’d be wise to heed Gura’s advice: Spot the owl. Respect the owl.