New Hartford CT - 7:25 AM I was approached by one of the brothers, Henry, who owns the farm. He sadly told me that the Snowy Owl was hit by a car last night. It was taken by a birder to a veterinarian last night, in bad shape but still alive. Sorry to pass along this bad news, but hoping to spare some of you an unnecessary trip. Now will head back home myself. Morris Finkelstein Greenwich CT Sent from Morris Finkelstein's iPhone

Morris, Thank you for your report. It is very unfortunate that the Snowy Owl, a visiting predator from the far north, and enjoyed by so many, met this fate. We'll await hearing an update from the veterinarian. Readers may recall that the rare Corn Crake on Long Island recently was found dead along a coastal highway. These events prompt me to offer some articles about bird mortality from vehicles. A USA Today article (May 29, 2014) reports a study that 89-340 million birds per year die from vehicle strikes in the USA. Barn Owls are particularly prone to this fate. https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/05/29/bird-deaths-car-crashes/9623931/ David Sibley has a summary of causes for mortality in birds; the top five are building/window collisions, predation by feral cats, high tension wires, pesticides, and vehicle strikes: http://www.sibleyguides.com/conservation/causes-of-bird-mortality/ Frank Mantlik Stratford Sent from my iPad > On Nov 21, 2017, at 7:30 AM, Morris Finkelstein via CTBirds <ctbirds@lists..ctbirding.org> wrote: > > New Hartford CT - 7:25 AM > > I was approached by one of the brothers, Henry, who owns the farm. He sadly told me that the Snowy Owl was hit by a car last night. It was taken by a birder to a veterinarian last night, in bad shape but still alive. Sorry to pass along this bad news, but hoping to spare some of you an unnecessary trip. Now will head back home myself. > > Morris Finkelstein > Greenwich CT > > Sent from Morris Finkelstein's iPhone > > > _______________________________________________ > This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. > For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org