Snowy owl makes surprise appearance in California suburb

A snowy owl recently showed up in a suburb of Southern California, making it one of the most southern sightings of the species ever recorded. Its presence attracted a number of birders and neighborhood onlookers in the Orange County neighborhood who have noticed the bird leaving around 5 p.m. each day only to return later that night to its roost. Snowy owls (Bubo scandiacus) usually migrate from Northern Canada to the Midwestern and northeastern U.S in the winter and have shown up as far south as Texas. But they hadn’t previously been documented as far as Southern California. Scientists think the owl could have flown thousands of miles to the suburb, or it may have traveled by ship and ended up there.

Read more in the New York Times.