FIRST RECORD OF A GREAT GRAY pvt. Rosemary Curley, , 
     
     ' . . . Fish & Wildlife Branch 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
     gtrix ngbglgsa. the Great Gray Owl. may now be added to the list of owls 
     
     recorded on Prince Edward Island. The first record is of a dead owl noted in 
     
     the early evening Of October 29. 1991 on the Mill River Road. near Bloomfield 
     
     (route I45). and reported by Norna Gard to Lorne MacDougall. _ 
     
    

    
     At 6:30 p.m.. Mr. MacDougall located the owl lying on the road as 
     
     _ reported. still warm but nevertheless dead. Possibly the bird had been hit by 
     
    

    
     a vehicle. or had electrocuted itself while perching on the power lines beside 
     
     the road. The great Gray Owl was a wingspan of up to 5 feet (1.5 m) and is 
     
     Known to perch on power lines. but the specimen did not show the burn marks 
     
     typical of electrocution. Therefore it seems more likely that a collision 
     
     with a vehicle was the cause of death. 
     
    

    
     . The specimen. complete with hordes of feather lice. was retained by Mr. 
     
     MacDougall. and identified on November 26 by Conservation Officer Nelson Hurry 
     
     as the largest North American owl. the great gray. The bird is without horns. 
     
     has yellow eyes as opposed to the dark eyes of the Barred Owl. and is larger 
     
     than a Great Horned Owl. The sex of this owl will be determined when the 
     
     specimen is preserved (stuffed) by a taxidermist. 
     
    

    
     The Great Gray Owl inhabits the black spruce and larch bogs of the 
     
     boreal forest zone. Breeding activity is confined to this biome from Ontario 
     
     west to Alaska. with local populations extending through the Rocky Mountains 
     
     to California. The winter range is coincident with the breeding range. but in 
     
     harsh winters is expanded southward as far as New York State. winter records 
     
     in the Maritimes are scanty. Only three records are available from Nova 
     
     Scotia since 1882 (Tufts. 1986). but Squires (1976) notes three recent sight 
     
     records and lists this species as casual in winter in New Brunswick . 
     
    

    
     The Great Gray Owl. though recently selected as the provincial bird of 
     
     Manitoba. is scarce through much of its range. Robert Nero, passing on 
     
     information from the American Birding ASsociation. notes that it is the sixth 
     
     rnost wanted bird for the lists maintained by North American birding 
     
     enthusiasts.l It is extremely unlikely that any of us will ever add a living 
     
     Great Gray Owl to our P.E.I. list. This is indeed one of the rarest of rare 
     
     records for birds on P.E.I. ' A 
     
    
   
   
    
     For more information on this bird please consult: .- 
     
    

    
     Nero. Robert w. 1980. I.he....§raat.6ray ,le.m..tha:i.t9m..,.gf._..theMathew 
     
     Egrest. Smithsonian Institute. Washington. D.C. I 
     
    

    
     Squires. w. Austin. 1976. mehBirdsiof,..New.._._Brun§y;igk edition 2. The 
     
     New Brunswick Museum. Monograph # 7 22l pages. ~‘ 
     
    

    
     Tufts. Hobie w. 1986. The Birds of Nova Bootia. N.s. Museum & Nimbus 
     
     Press. 478 pages. 
     
    
   
   
    
     NECK COLLAR ALERT ' E ' ’ ' by Jay Hestbeck 
     
    
   
   
    
     I need your help. L am coordinating a study for the 
     
     Atlantic Flyway on migrant and resident Canada Geese. To 
     
     estimate the necessary population parameters. individuals 
     
     were marked with a flexible neck band. At present. 13.500 
     
     ' ., “ geese are neck-banded in the Atlantic Flyway from Prince 
     
    

    
     Edward Island to South Carolina. ' 
     
    

    
     You could greatly help the project if you would record any neck'band 
     
     codes for Canada Geese that you see. Please send the neck—band colour. colour 
     
     of symbols, symbols from the top down. date, and latitude and longitude 
     
    
   
   
    
     >—H-