Climate Central: In the winter of 2013--14, hundreds of milk-white birds with luminous yellow eyes and wingspans of up to 5 feet descended on beaches, farmers' fields, city parks and airport runways throughout southern Canada and the United States.
Traditionally, snowy owls spend most of their time in the Arctic and subarctic regions. But every four years or so when populations of lemmings -- among the owl's favorite foods -- cycle downward, a small number of young, inexperienced birds that are less adept than...