Logan Airport officials try to reduce layover for snowy owls

Snowy owls have been turning up more regularly at Logan Airport, where the terrain resembles their Arctic habitat. (Massachusetts Port Authority/ Rudy Chiarello)

Logan Airport is a perfect home away from home for the snowy owl. Even before the airport was built, the owls rested their white and brown-speckled feathers here, drawn by the flat terrain blanketed by snow, reminiscent of their native Arctic tundra habitat, and a plentiful supply of rodents.

The nomadic snowy owl comes to North America in winter and returns to the Arctic by season's end. But more of the majestic, wide-eyed creatures have made the journey in recent years, taking up temporary residence at Logan, and that has airport officials worried.

"We don't want Logan to become a wildlife habitat," said David Ishihara, the airport's director of aviation operations, referring to the snowy owl and the more than 50 other types of bird that nest, hunt, or frequent Logan. "We know we can't eliminate the wildlife here, but our goal is to manage it."

Snowy owls, like other birds, pose a threat to aircraft because of the possibility that they might fly into an engine on takeoff or landing. The threat of such a collision came to fruition on Jan. 15, when the engines of a US Airways plane en route to Charlotte, N.C., from New York were disabled after the aircraft collided with a flock of birds. The plane, carrying 155 people, was forced to make an emergency landing in the Hudson River.

Logan's problem is Norm Smith's passion. Smith, an owl specialist with the Massachusetts Audubon Society, has been helping the airport remove the owls since 1981. So far, he figures he has trapped and removed 360. This winter, he has removed 21.

Ishihara said, "When there's an opportunity to team up with him, it's a win-win situation."

Smith, who volunteers his service, visits Logan whenever his busy schedule permits. He works full time at the Blue Hills Trailside Museum in Milton, where he first started working as a volunteer at age 14.

Smith uses a simple box trap with bait, a rodent, to catch the owls. Sometimes he is able to trap one within minutes, other times it can take hours. And occasionally, he leaves empty-handed. On the days he is able to catch one, he will keep the bird for up to two hours before releasing it. During that time, he will weigh the owl, check its fat content, height, wingspan, and general condition, and tag it with a bracelet that contains a tracking number. Occasionally, he will attach a transmitter to the bird so its flight patterns can be tracked by satellite.

After Smith collects the data, he releases the owls. If he catches an owl in the early winter season, he will release it south of Logan Airport, with the assumption that the bird is continuing south for the season. If it is late in the winter, he will release it north of the airport, usually at Plum Island, because the bird is likely to be on its way back to the Arctic.

"Occasionally, they'll fly right back to Logan after I release them, but most seem to go on their way," Smith said. "We've had birds return to the airport the next season, or five or 13 years after we tagged them." The longest amount of time has been 16 years. Snowy owls have lived up to 32 years in captivity; the longest documented lifespan in the wild was 16 years.

Although the snowy owl has been spotted in other areas of New England and even in states farther south and west, they apparently don't favor other airports in the region. Tom Malafronte, the assistant director of air service development and marketing at Manchester Airport in New Hampshire, said the snowy owl is not a problem there. "If we saw one it would be a very unique sighting," he said.

T.F. Green Airport in Warwick, R.I., reports only rare and brief sightings of the bird.

Although the snowy owl likes to consider Logan a vacation spot, the bird isn't at the top of the nuisance list there.

According to the airport's Wildlife Management Hazard Plan, its populations of gulls, geese, and ducks are much higher. Those birds usually travel in tight flocks, which increases the chance they might cause a problem for aircraft, Smith said.

By comparison, the snowy owl is a solitary creature, content to sit alone for hours. Ishihara said passengers sometimes spot the owl gazing back at their planes. The hazard plan includes a picture of an owl standing in the low-clipped grass several feet away from the tarmac, with a large jet passing by.

"They do catch your attention out there," Ishihara said.