Yesterday on the Leslie Street Spit section of the Toronto Christmas
Bird Count, there were two pale Snyder's Great Horned Owls
(subspecies scalariventris) and one very dark Labrador Great Horned
Owl (subspecies heterocnemis). The Snyder's subspecies is named after
Lester Snyder, a former Curator of Ornithology at the Royal Ontario
Museum, who described the pale breeding population of Great Horned
Owls in northern Ontario.
See photos http://jeaniron.ca/Owls/torontoghowls.htm
References: Snyder, L.L. 1961. On an Unnamed Population of the Great
Horned Owl. Contribution No. 54: 1-7. Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
Also see Pittaway, R. 1993. Subspecies of the Great Horned Owl.
Ontario Birds 11(2): 64-69.
The Leslie Street Spit (Tommy Thompson Park) is at Leslie Street and
Unwin Avenue in east Toronto. The Spit stretches 5 km into Lake
Ontario and is only open to the public on weekends and holidays.
Jean Iron and Ron Pittaway
Toronto and Minden ON
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected]
For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit
http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdssetup.php
ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at
http://www.ofo.ca/information/ontbirdsguide.php
