First, I think it's fantastic that non-birders are on the lookout for Snowy
Owls and that birders who hear about their observations are sharing them
with the rest of the birding community (even if they seem questionable).  A
big thanks to Dave for continuing to share these reports! It really can pay
off to investigate these reports, by the way. Quick story: There was a
snowy owl near Ithaca NY in May, 2006 that went unnoticed by the birding
community for almost a week before one of the locals mentioned the owl to a
birder.  Thanks to that non-birder's report, I got my life Snowy Owl and
(thanks to Ithaca area birders) my life Cerulean Warbler ... on the same
day in May!

That said, I can't help but wonder if people aren't seeing the front of
perched Red-tailed Hawks and calling them Snowy Owls??  From a distance,
non- or novice birders can easily confuse Snowies and Red-tails (see photos
below). While it's possible these reports are of snowy owls, it seems
unlikely.  That behavior (perched in a low tree near traffic) sounds like
pretty typical Red-tailed Hawk behavior from that area, and I'd imagine
that a Snowy Owl would prefer to be up on one of the many tall poles nearby
not a small roadside tree.  Plus, many birders pass through (and actively
bird) OSU's west campus area, so it would be surprising if a Snowy Owl was
hanging out for any length of time.

Did anyone get photos of the bird?

Here are a few RT hawk pictures and the photo of the Snowy Owl that
recently made the front page of the Columbus Dispatch newspaper (it helps
to squint your eyes and scoot your chair back from your computer):

Snowy Owl:

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2012/01/12/snowy-owl-on-dispatch-front-page-found-dead.html

Red-tails:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mitchwaxman/5429838214/in/set-72157625851849438/

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9pFk3dr6LGg/TWRPcyXKLYI/AAAAAAAAD6g/wYT9qzZYVys/s1600/RedtailedHawk011_7090b.jpg
  http://urbanhawks.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/1004065thrta.jpg

Good birding,
Paul Hurtado
Columbus, OH

______________________________________________________________________

Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society.
Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list.
Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/.

You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at:
http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS
Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]