The Mystery and Magnificence of the Snowy Owl

Young, Gifted and Wild About Birds
Rebecca McCabe, Ph.D.
Thursday, January 25, 2024, 7-8 p.m. via Zoom

Every few years the world of winter birding in southern New England is electrified by the arrival of Snowy Owls from the Arctic. These amazing birds have been studied extensively in recent years by the team of scientists at Project SNOWstorm, including Rebecca McCabe.

Join us for her program, via Zoom, on Thursday, January 25, 7-8 p.m. The cost is $9 for Connecticut Audubon members or $12 for non-members.

Rebecca will highlight her doctoral research studying wintering Snowy Owls and give an update on what she and the rest of the team at Project SNOWstorm have been learning over the past decade.

She will share her journey from undecided college student to a research biologist at the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, the world’s first refuge for birds of prey.

Rebecca received a B.S. in Environmental Biology at Millersville University (2013), and then earned a M.S. in Biology at East Stroudsburg University (2016) studying the nesting behavior of Broad-winged Hawks in Pennsylvania. In 2021, she received a Ph.D. from McGill University in Montreal, where she studied Snowy Owls during the winter period. Rebecca joined the staff full time at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in May 2021, serving as one of the sanctuary’s biologists.

She continues researching Broad-winged Hawks and Snowy Owls and is involved in the Hawk Mountain’s long-term American Kestrel project. She also assists with other aspects of conservation science, including the trainee program, advising undergraduate and graduate students and science-education outreach.