Before too much more angst is expressed about the presumed stress the Skowhegan Great Grey Owl might feel from a comparatively few people looking at it with telescopic optics, it might be worthwhile to consider this bird in perspective. The worldwide population of this species is estimated at 190,000 individuals with 90,000 of them in North America (Partners in Flight, 2013). Happily, its conservation status is as a "species of least concern," and its numbers are considered to be increasing. By no means am I suggesting that this excuses birders from acting with respect when viewing this bird, but presuming it is any more fragile or precious than any other stakeout bird--much less issuing blanket condemnations of the birding community--hardly seems warranted. A couple of times each winter a Great Grey Owl turns up in Maine to the delight of a few people who get to see it. For some of those people it will be a bird they won't forget, and the experience might even generate more votes for conservation. Why not share this opportunity? Goodness, literally hundreds of Snowy Owls are legally shot at airports across North America every winter and we are worrying about a single Great Grey Owl turning its head to look at us?
Bill Hancock,
Gray
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