BROWN COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – A Northeast Wisconsin airport has been working with local bird enthusiast groups to protect Snowy Owls.
Green Bay-Austin Straubel International Aiport Director Tom Miller says they’ve been busy dealing with owls on their runways.
“We’ve seen at least seven, and possibly eight, at various times at the airport. We felt that was a large enough number that we needed to try to do something to relocate the animals so they wouldn’t get injured, struck by an aircraft or be ingested by an aircraft engine.”
Miller notes how they remove the owls from their runways and taxiways.
“Use a spring-loaded net to capture the birds, do a quick physical on them and tag them, and then they take them out to the central part of the state and release them in a wildlife area.”
He says a tracking device has been placed on one of the birds, named Austin.
“They were looking for particuarly healthy Snowy Owls that were large enough to handle the additional weight.”
It’s part of Project Snowstorm, which aims to better understand Snowy Owls’ winter travel patterns.
Click here to track Austin’s progress.
A total of five Snowy Owls have been successfully trapped at Austin Straubel, with four having been released in other areas and one having been taken to The Feather for further care until it is healthy enough to be released back into the wild.
