WILDLIFE WATCHING -- Sad news: the northern hawk owl that's been attracting birders from far and wide to the Moscow, Idaho, area has been reported dead.

The rare visitor from the arctic has been hunting and hanging out in the area since it was spotted Dec. 3 near a Moscow shopping mall by raptor expert Erik Stauber, a retired wildlife veterinary professor from Washington State University.

Moscow birder Terry Gray, who's been watching and photographing the bird almost daily just reported the news.

The hawk owl, a bird of boreal forests in Alaska and Canada, became a sensation because of its willingness to stay in the same area and be photographed by many, many birders after Gray posted photos and began giving daily reports on where the bird could be seen.

Northern hawk owls have been recorded and documented farther south in Idaho (Hailey and in eastern Idaho) and several had been recorded for Moscow and Pullman around 20 years ago, says birder Charles Swift.

But the bird is a rare or maybe once-in-a-lifetime bird for many enthusiasts in this region.

Birders had expressed concern about the bird's lack of fear for powerlines and vehicle traffic as it hunted for mice and voles in the wild patches along the town's edges and roadways. The bird was found injured but alive on a road where it had been hunting. Apparently it was struck by a vehicle. It was taken to WSU veterinarians but did not survive.

Click Continue reading for more details about the bird and from WSU News. (Note the error in reporting that this is the first documented sighting of a hawk owl near Moscow):