Snowy owl researcher to open wildlife lecture series Feb. 12
Snowy owls will be the topic of Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge’s kick-off to its 2019 lecture series.
The program will take place at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12, at the Milton CHEER Center.
David Brinker, a regional ecologist with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, will be giving an overview of his five years of snowy owl research with the Project Snowstorm team.
Brinker’s research has involved trapping, banding and placing transmitters on snowy owls as a means of understanding their winter ecology as they journey south during the winter months. The transmitters record the bird’s location, altitude, and flight speed. Tracking can reveal previously unknown behavior and shed light on poorly understood aspects of the snowy owl’s life.
Project Snowstorm was founded during the unprecedented and historic December 2013 invasion of snowy owls that spread into the New England and Mid-Atlantic regions of the eastern United States. Snowy owls breed and spend their summers in the arctic regions, and the 2013 migration gave scientists a unique chance to study these amazing birds.
This program is free and open to the public. The Milton CHEER Center is at 24855 Broadkill Road (Route 16), Milton.
For more information, go to www.fws.gov/refuge/prime_hook and www.cheerde.com/milton.
