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Snowy Owl Telemetry Research Project
A color-marked snowy owl at Duxbury Beach.
Donate to the Snowy Owl Project. |
Technical Information Project Participants
Blue Hills Trailside Museum
Massachusetts Audubon Society
Milton, Massachusetts
Raptor Research Center
Boise State University
Boise, Idaho
USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Center
Snake River Field Station
Boise, Idaho
The Owl Institute
Missoula, Montana
Project Dates
Project Initiation Date
January 10, 2000
ProjectCompletion Date
Ongoing
Project Abstract
Norman Smith, director of the Massachusetts Audubon Society's (MAS) Blue Hills Trailside Museum, has been studying snowy owls since 1981. He has established a collaborative partnership between Blue Hills Trailside Museum and the Boise State University (BSU) Raptor Research Center, based on owl research as it relates to snowy owls, their migration patterns, and their ecological requirements. 
A color-marked snowy owl with the satellite transmitter antenna showing. |
The MAS Blue Hills Trailside Museum applied for and received the appropriate permits for this project and began attaching satellite transmitters to selected wild snowy owls wintering at Boston's Logan International Airport.
These satellite transmitters will identify the migration routes of selected wild snowy owls. The information gained from tracking migration routes will be used to complement Smith's ongoing 20 year research and education program.
Snowy owls are Massachusetts' largest owl. Data collected via satellite telemetry on these birds will advance Smith's research in 3 major ways.
- Provide critical information on the physical health and elusive migration patterns of snowy owls wintering in Massachusetts
- Disseminate gathered conservation and natural history data through public education programs and research articles.
- Introduce a technologically advanced tracking technique to snowy owl research at Logan International Airport as part of the BSU Raptor Research Center snowy owl research program.
 This project is done in collaboration with BSU and the USGS Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Center, and the Owl Research Institute (ORI) in Missoula, Montana. Mark Fuller (FRESC), Denver Holt (ORI), and Linda Schueck (BSU and USGS) radio tracked snowy owls via satellites from their breeding grounds in Barrow, Alaska, half way around the Arctic. Now Blue Hills Trailside Museum and the Boise State University Research Associate Kirk Bates track owls from their wintering grounds at Logan International Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. Mark Fuller, Kirk Bates, and Mike Yates (BSU Raptor Research Center) and colleagues have tracked over 150 birds of various species and combine data about snowy owls with those of other birds to study the annual movements and resources associations of birds.
 The Blue Hills Trailside Museum Snowy Owl project contributes results about the migration routes and destinations of Snowy Owls of eastern North America, which are critical for developing conservation plans for species that are expected to be affected by changes in the environment. The project also contributes to advances in wildlife tracking techniques. The telemetry data will be used by all parties for publication on ecology of snowy owls and in educational programs at the Owl Research Institute, Massachusetts Audubon Society sanctuaries, and others.
You can donate to the Snowy Owl Project on our secure donation form — just specify “Snowy Owl Project” as the project you wish to support.
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