Rare Snowy Owl Perches On Rooftop In Queen Anne, Seattle

The past few days, a rare snowy owl has been spotted in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood, and the new resident knows how to draw a crowd. The stark-white bird has spent several days hanging around rooftops in the area, before winging off at sunset. On Tuesday, a small group of birdwatchers gathered in an alley to watch the creature.

The bird likely has traveled a long distance. Seattle and western Washington are along the southern edge of the snowy owl's normal winter range, according to Cornell University's resources on ornithology. But in "irruptive" years, they've been known to range further south based on prey and have been documented as far as Florida and Texas in extreme years.