[Animals] The strange journey of the arctic owls that landed in Asturias

[Noticias ALEJANDRO]

 

Asturias has two new very recognizable neighbors for experts in birds of prey or Harry Potter fans. It is a pair of snowy or Arctic owls, two white specimens with some black spots and large amber eyes, like the one that accompanied the young magician, who since last weekend have been in the Gozón area, a coastal area near Cape Peñas. These animals live in ecosystems very different from that of the Principality of Asturias, so that ornithologists and specialists wonder how they have been able to reach these latitudes. Meanwhile, dozens of curious people from all over Spain, who are asked to respect these birds, have come to these places with cameras and spyglasses in order to observe these unpublished guests.

The first sighting of one of them occurred last Saturday and immediately the photos and information began to flow through social networks and telephones, to the point that since then a large number of interested parties have been around places such as the beaches of Verdicio or Llumeres , where both birds of prey have been seen. The biologist Arancha Marcotegi, from the birdwatching company Birdwatch Asturias, explains that the presence of three of these arctic specimens was confirmed, but one of them died "exhausted" in Cantabria. The other two have become accustomed to Asturian environments and maintain their twilight hunting routines, although not as nocturnal as their cousins the Spanish royal owls, in search of rodents or unsuspecting small animals. Marcotegi adds that their normal habitat is the tundra - a polar region of low vegetation - either in Greenland, northern Europe or North America, so he does not think they will last a long period in Spain, no matter how much winter approaches. Nor should they ascend to colder, mountainous areas, where they would have many more competitors and could not breed on the ground, as they usually do, for potential predators.

The doubts of the specialists lie in how they have landed in Asturias. This biologist speculates that, since they are not "great migrants", they may have felt exhausted during a displacement and choose to stop "to rest on a boat" that has brought them to this territory. The doctor in biology and head of species conservation at SEO / BirdLife Nicolás López explains that the southernmost latitudes that snowy owls can frequent never go beyond the north of the United Kingdom or Scandinavia. The expert points out that another option is that climate change has caused "extreme phenomena of more iciness in their areas or stronger storms" that mean that the strong currents of Atlantic wind have dragged the specimens, whose origin is difficult to determine not being ringed. The analyzes to which they are going to submit the owl that died will help to understand where it came from and, therefore, the most plausible options on its flight to the Iberian Peninsula. López says that the boat theory is more than sensible, given that all kinds of birds, even griffon vultures, often stop at ships that cross the Strait of Gibraltar heading for the African heat.

Both specialists in ornithology agree that the presence of these arctic animals in Asturias will be brief. Both the "instinct" and the need to breed soon will mark their willingness to fly north again, a process that they believe will be through "stages" because they are not like other winged animals, such as terns, for example, better prepared to long migrations. The biologists' goal is for these two birds to improve after an exhausting experience, to be able to feed and gain weight before embarking on a new adventure.

That will depend, they warn, on the respect they perceive from the dozens of fans who have come to Gozón trying to observe or photograph them. López, who, because of the size of the owls, believes that they are a female and a male, asks to "leave them alone" because even the experts do not believe it is convenient to sex or identify them. "It is good to promote ornithological tourism, but with good observation practices so as not to disturb them, they are recovering after thousands of kilometers," asks the SEO / BirdLife representative. People, he details, prevent the owl from being able to hunt or eat comfortably, even more so if they “organize hunts” to try to locate it during the daytime hours in which it is limited to resting. López warns that "it will not stand like a plastic owl" and it will be difficult to photograph it as the first time one of the specimens was sighted, perched on the roof of a private home.

The "crowding" around these birds with sharp beaks and claws and dense plumage to combat the cold can be detrimental. However, within the exotic journey that has taken the pair of birds to Asturias, they have been "very lucky", says the biologist, because there are many birds of prey in this habitat

 

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