We asked participants in a recent cover survey to send questions that Contributing Editor Julie Craves could answer in her popular column Since You Asked in our upcoming December issue. The response was amazing! We received far more interesting questions than Julie could address in the December issue, so we're jumping right in and answering questions for her. We'll answer more on the blog and in future issues of our newsletter.

David Ruehl of Sanford, Florida, asked: Do owls migrate?

I love questions like this because they reveal both how much we know and how much still remains to be learned about birds. (You weren't expecting a simple yes or no, were you, David?)

There are 19 species of owl that breed in North America. Four of them -- Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Great Gray Owl, and Boreal Owl -- are northerners. Three are southwestern specialties -- Whiskered Screech-Owl, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, and Elf Owl.

Among the remaining 12, five have distributions that are more western than eastern -- Flammulated Owl, Western Screech-Owl, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Burrowing Owl, and Spotted Owl -- and two, Eastern Screech-Owl and Barred Owl, have distributions that are more eastern than western.

The remaining five occur across the continent -- Barn Owl, Great Horned Owl, Long-eared and Short-eared Owls, and Northern Saw-whet Owl. Let's take them by group.

Northern owls

Snowy Owl - Fascinating Snowy Owl breeds from near tree line to the edge of polar seas and winters regularly south to the northern U.S. and sporadically beyond. Scientists describe it as both a nomadic species and an often unpredictable migrant that is more regular and abundant in the northern Great Plains than it is to the east, west, and south of there. We see it just about every year here in southeastern Wisconsin.

Read about Snowy Owls that spend their winter on arctic sea ice.

Northern Hawk Owl - One of the least-studied birds of North America, according to Birds of North America. The species winters throughout its breeding range but periodically invades southern Canada and the northern United States.

Great Gray Owl - The spectacular Great Gray can be resident or nomadic. In winters when prey is scarce, individuals wander south to the northern U.S. and southern Canada, often in considerable numbers.

Boreal Owl - Another nomad. Boreal Owl is generally a year-round resident, but it disperses in years when prey populations are scarce.

Southwestern owls

Whiskered Screech-Owl - Like the other two screech-owls, Whiskered is essentially nonmigratory throughout its range.

Kenn Kaufman tells how to ID Eastern, Western, and Whiskered Screech-Owls.

Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl - A permanent resident from the southwestern United States to southern South America.

Elf Owl - The smallest owl in the world and such a cool bird. Most Elf Owls breed in three populations in the U.S.–Mexican borderlands and winter in southern Mexico. Three other disjunct populations in southern Baja California and Puebla, Mexico, are nonmigratory.

Western owls

Flammulated Owl - Tiny Flam appears to be highly migratory, at least in the United States and Canada, but the nature of its migration is still poorly understood. North American birds and populations in northern Mexico are thought to be long-distance, north-south migrants.

Read more about Flammulated Owl.

Read about a memorable encounter with Flammulated Owl.

Western Screech-Owl - Like Eastern and Whiskered, Western is essentially nonmigratory.

Northern Pygmy-Owl - Another candidate for least-studied bird. Northern Pygmy-Owl is known to descend during winter to lower elevations, where it preys upon small birds that visit bird feeders, but evidence is lacking for true migration.

Burrowing Owl - Although owls in southern California and Florida are predominately nonmigratory, most of the North American population is migratory or disperses widely. Recoveries of banded birds have provided little information about wintering areas but suggest that Canadian birds migrate farther south than those banded in the U.S.

Read more about Burrowing Owl.

Spotted Owl - All three subspecies of Spotted Owl are generally nonmigratory, but the California Spotted Owl and Mexican Spotted Owl occasionally change elevation between breeding range to winter ranges.

Eastern owls

Eastern Screech-Owl - Like the other two screech-owls, Eastern is essentially nonmigratory.

Barred Owl - Territorial throughout the year (like Spotted Owl) and essentially nonmigratory.

Owls found in many states and provinces

Barn Owl - According to Birds of North America, the extent of Barn Owl migration remains unresolved. The species remains near the northern edge of its breeding range all winter, but Barn Owls have been observed in "significant fall numbers" in southern New Jersey and at migrant traps along Lake Erie, suggesting that some kind of migratory movement occurs in some regions of the northern U.S.

Great Horned Owl - Big, powerful, long-lived Great Horned Owl makes no regular annual migration but may invade Midwestern states from time to time when northern populations of snowshoe hare, an important prey species, crash.

Long-eared Owl - Although the species winters throughout most of its breeding range, individuals migrate long distances. Several birds that had been banded in the northern United States and southern Canada were recovered in Mexico, suggesting a nomadic streak. The Long-eared Owl is presumed to be a regular migrant in northern Canada.

Kenn Kaufman tells how to ID Long-eared Owl, Short-eared Owl, and Great Horned Owl.

Short-eared Owl - Short-eared Owl is a partial migrant. It is highly migratory in the northern part of its breeding range and present year-round at mid-latitudes.

Northern Saw-whet Owl - Although Saw-whet Owls in eastern and western North America remain year-round on their breeding grounds, many do move southward in winter, producing large concentrations in spring and fall around the Great Lakes, and banders have documented southward irruptions of immature saw-whets that seem to take place approximately every four years or so.

Read how one birdwatcher found all 13 of Arizona’s owl species in a single year.

See great photos of owls.

Send your question about birds to Julie Craves.

-- Chuck Hagner, Editor