Snowy owl on winter break in Southern California

Snowbirds' are a common sight in Southern California in wintertime — except when they're actually a bird. A snowy owl to be exact.

Crowds of bird-watchers have been showing up in an Orange County neighborhood to gawk at a snowy owl, a species normally found around the Arctic tundra, Canada and several northern U.S. states.

The Orange County Register reports that local bird experts speculate that the bird could have arrived in Southern California aboard a ship or perhaps is a captive bird that escaped.