Rare northern hawk owl seen south of Eau Claire, Wisconsin

© Anne Geraghty

A northern hawk owl like this one has been spotted south of Eau Claire

Since early December, a rare visitor - a northern hawk owl - has been hanging out just south of Eau Claire, to the delight of local bird-watchers.

"Usually, the crows will help you find it. There's four or five crows who like to harass it," said David Lund of rural Eleva, who has seen the bird several times in recent weeks.

The owl is only about 14 inches tall and is unusual among owls because it is just as happy hunting in the daytime as at night, which also has made the bird popular with local birders.

One owl watcher reported seeing the little owl catch three mice within a span of about 20 minutes, so he is an owl with an appetite.

The owl has often been found near Lars Road, west of Down to Earth Gardening and Landscaping along Highway 93 south of Eau Claire. Some local birders have nicknamed to bird Lars, Lund said.

Ryan Brady, bird monitoring coordinator for the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative, said bird-watchers have been driving from three or four hours away to see the Eau Claire owl.

"It's not every year that there's one of these birds in the state that people can go and find," he said.

There have been a couple of other sightings of hawk owls in the state earlier in the winter, but those were one-time events, Brady said.