On Jan. 24, birder and photographer James Robinson Bill Diller photographed a snowy owl in Huron County, Michigan, that appears to have been liberally coated with some sort of orangish-red paint or dye. After the photos appeared on social media they set off a bit of a firestorm, initially people accusing Robinson of faking them with AI or Photoshop. Others have since seen and photographed the owl.
Lest anyone be confused, Project SNOWstorm does not use color-marking to track snowy owls, nor do we have anything to do with this unfortunate Michigan bird.
The only exceptions have been when our Canadian colleagues have tagged owls being moved from airfields like Montreal-Trudeau Airport, when the owl might be given a small spot of dye at the bend of the wing or the back of the head so it can be re-identified at a distance if it returns to the airfield.
In the 1960s, before modern transmitter technology was developed (and before the full impact of color-marking on the social behavior of birds was understood), early researchers in Wisconsin did use spray paint to mark snowy owls in order to understand winter movements. The science has moved on greatly since then, and the transmitters we use provide vastly more information, across seasons and over many years, than color-marking ever could.
We have been in touch with the U.S. Bird Banding Lab regarding the Michigan owl, and they confirmed that no U.S. banders are currently authorized to color-mark snowy owls in any fashion. The BBL also confirmed with the USDA’s Wildlife Services division that that agency is not color-marking snowy owls trapped and relocated from U.S. airports. At last report the BBL was reaching out to their colleagues at the Canadian Banding Office to see if they can shed any light on this disturbing situation.
No legitimate modern researcher, even with color-marking authorization, would essentially paint an entire bird the way this owl appears to have been done. It’s not science, it’s vandalism, and we’re as upset about it as anyone.
(The date and identity of the original photographer have been corrected, with apologies.)
Jan. 31 update: During our weekly SNOWstorm team call today, Norman Smith, who has been banding snowy owls at Logan Airport since 1981, recalled a snowy that was roosting under a bridge that was being spray-painted and was hit with gray primer, creating a pattern similar to this. He also pointed out that some metal primers are red. Not conclusive, but definitely a possibility.
33 Comments on “No, We’re Not Dyeing Owls Red”
So it is certain that this owl was painted? No way this could be natural? What a terrible thing to do.
It’s certainly not natural — the color seems to have been applied in a symmetrical way — on parts of the outermost flight feathers on both wings, but not on the inner flight feathers called the secondaries, and you can easily see that the color left white “shadows” where the feather above prevented parts of the feathers below from being touched. There’s been speculation that it was something like fire retardant dropped by a plane, which might make sense if the owl were in L.A., but not in northern Michigan in the middle of winter. It’s easily one of the most bizarre things we’ve seen.
Thanks for addressing this, Scott. I hope the perp is identified and stopped from ever disfiguring an owl again. It helps to have your take on the situation. I’m not sure people who don’t follow Project SNOWstorm realize how much airport trapping and relocation goes on.
No need to be alarmist or accusatory here. This is most likely the consequence of plane deicing fluid that was dumped accidentally on a roosting owl. This fluid is typically orange-red.
I’m wondering if the first photographer has been confused? I couldn’t find a James Robinson except one that shared Bill Diller’s photo that was taken on Jan 24th. https://www.facebook.com/share/p/15xczDdkY1/
You’re absolutely right — I was looking at the wrong post, and will correct our blog. Thanks for the correction.
Being the father of a well known ornithologist in Toronto, I can attest paint or dye is not used. Owls are banded and are tracked using MAPPS which is common for many larger birds and allows qualified scientists to know exactly where the birds fly. The coloration on the owl was done by a very ignorant person.
Probably shot with a paint ball gun. Awful people.
Hard to imagine it was hit with a paintball gun — it’s just too much color, and I think paint would have visibly gummed up the feathers.
Should the owl be trapped so,it can be cleaned? Would the paint affect its ability to hunt successfully?
If it’s dye, chances are the only thing that will help is fading with time, and natural molting that will replace feathers. Snowy owls undergo what’s known as a prebasic molt on the breeding grounds in which they replace most or all of their body feathers and many of their wing coverts, but it takes several years for owls (even small ones like northern saw-whets) to replace all of their wing feathers. Obviously, there is a concern here that this bird has lost its winter camouflage, and I have to assume the coloration will have an effect on whether it can attract a mate. If I were a snowy owl, that’s probably not what I’d be looking for in a partner.
Excellent clarifications Scott. Thank you.
Is it posible the owl was trapped somewhere and came in contact with rusty surfaces before it escaped? We have seen owl before that showed graese/oil markings from contacting farm machinery.
It’s hard to say, but the extent of the coloration just strikes me as unlikely to have been accidental. Of course, I’d prefer not to think that someone did this on purpose.
Is it confirmed not photoshop?
Unfortunately people do this all the time in Facebook birding groups –
mc1r mutation
This owl was harmed by human activity, and instead of expressing concern, you’re making a joke at the expense of redheads? That’s not just insensitive – it’s tasteless. Maybe show some compassion for the animal instead of using its suffering as a punchline.
Do trees getting cut down still get sprayed with a orange X, maybe this happened while he was nesting?
Well, snowy owls only nest on the ground on the Arctic and subarctic tundra, so no trees. I’m persuaded by my colleague Norman Smith’s idea that it was roosting under a bridge that was being spray-painted with metal primer, especially because there are photos of this owl perching on what appears to be a bridge superstructure.
From a conversation on FB this is not Photoshop (apparently this bird was photographed by several people independently) and this patchy red only on places exposed to the sky is not what a melanocortin receptor mutation looks like (for example some red pigeons and chickens where entire feathers are red and the pattern includes feathers protected by folding). I liked the plane de-icing fluid theory but had trouble finding videos online of fluid that was so deeply concentrated, usually it’s dilute pale orange (or green)–if anyone has examples of anything (even clothes or other fabrics) stained bright by plane de icing fluid, please link it. I think the paint splashed/sprayed on its back when the wings were closed theory that Scott shared above fits best. It’s of course possible it was either accidental or intentional.
If the red dust dropped on fires as a retardant was used in Canada maybe this owl got sprayed before coming down to Michigan this winter?
This appears to be a first-winter snowy, based on the lack of any sign of recent molt in the flight feathers, so it would have been up on the tundra as a fledgling during the summer wildfire season on Canada. (Snowy owls also avoid forested areas, because they are not woodland owls – they prefer open terrain.)
Nobody is dropping fire retardant on the tundra where these birds nest.
Who said it while nesting?
My spouse is a commercial airline pilot. He confirmed that Type I deicing fluid is red-orange. I’m not saying that is what this is, but it is a possibility.
Thanks, good to get some first-hand confirmation. My experience as a passenger has been to mostly see what appears to be blue-green deicing fluid.
On Jan, 09, 25 at 2:09 pm I posted 2 photos of this bird. Taken in Huron County in dairy barn . I posted them in 2 places , one my Facebook and 2, in a michigan owl group.
I remember seeing the photo when it was first posted on the Michigan Snowy Owl fb page. I recommended then to reach out to Operation Snow Storm. Sherri Noto these were probably your pics.
I remember seeing the photo when it was first posted on the Michigan Snowy Owl fb page. I recommended then to reach out to Operation Snow Storm. Sherri Noto these were probably your pics.
Thank you Scott for addressing this!
It maybe had a big shrimp diet. Like why flamingos are pink.
Replying to Sandra and Mary…no, the coloration was definitely applied, likely accidentally — you can see on flight photos of the bird that upper layers of feathers blocked the substance from those below, leaving white “shadows.” One scientist who specializes in avian coloration speculated it might be a genetic mutation, but even his co-author on a textbook about bird coloration agrees it has to have been an artificial dye of some sort. One story with photos that show this is here. Right now, the most logical explanation is airport de-icing fluid.
Just wondering if perhaps the bird is eating something that can lead to coloration of its plumage, like flamingos with shrimp. The coloration looks to natural to have been applied from the outside.
Nobody is dropping fire retardant at this time of year where the birds are wintering either.