D.C.'s famous snowy owl dies in Minnesota

A snowy owl that captivated Washington, D.C., in January was found dead this week in northern Minnesota.

The owl gained fame — and a Twitter feed — after perching for a few hours on a ledge outside The Washington Post's headquarters.

Not long after, the bird was hit by a bus — and transported to the University of Minnesota's Raptor Center for rehabilitation.

Researchers released it into the wild in April after attaching an identification band.

Raptor Center director Dr. Julie Ponder says the bird was found along I-35, likely killed by a car.

"It's always hard for us to learn this kind of thing," she said. "Every little bit of information we gather allows us to learn a little bit more about what's happening out in populations of wildlife, which we don't know about. But this isn't how we want to learn."

Ponder says the snowy owl was far from its arctic habitat, and was not accustomed to being around vehicles or populated areas.

"Even though we released the bird up north, it's still far more inhabited than the arctic area that they usually come from," she said. "Many of these birds just have no concept of vehicles, windows. Those are dangers and risks that they just haven't been adapted for."