Snowy owls—birds only occasionally seen in Wisconsin—have recently caught the attention of Madison locals on the UW-Madison campus.
A Memorial Library employee spotted a snowy owl in late December, and several Madison birdwatchers have reported sightings of the bird near Grainger Hall and the future site of the Student Activity Center on the 700 block of University Avenue.
The birds are large—about two feet tall—and male snowy owls are mostly white, while females have mottled feather patterns.
According to the Madison weekly newspaper Isthmus, one of the birds would perch atop one of the University Square construction site's cranes and sit there every day during the first two weeks of January.
The owl garnered the moniker, ""Hedwig,"" after Harry Potter's messenger owl in the popular book series about young witches and wizards.
Madison Audubon Society employees expressed their excitement over the sightings via the organization's interoffice e-mail system.
Isthmus and www.madison.com contributed to this report.
