The Pacific Northwest's limited experience with snowy owls has heightened the public fascination with this winter's appearance of the white birds here.

The causes for their visiting the Northwest and much of North America remain the subject of some speculation and debate (see accompanying story under "related stories" to the right). Paul Bannick, the author of the The Owl and the Woodpecker, recently discussed the owls, the possibility that climate change is affecting their habitat, and human responsibility for protecting both the habitats in which they breed and those they visit to survive the winter.

The Owl and the Woodpecker, published in 2008, continues to be one of the best-selling bird books in North America and was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award for general non-fiction. Besides being a wildlife photographer specializing in the natural history of North America with a focus on birds and habitat, Bannick currently serves as director of development for Conservation Northwest, an organization dedicated to protecting and connecting wild areas from the Pacific Coast to the Canadian Rockies.

Here's an edited transcript of an interview at Seattle's Discovery Park with Bannick. He will give a talk about owls, conservation and habitat at The Mountaineers on Jan. 12. (For information go to paulbannick.com.)

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