Snowy Owl

The Snowy Owl is easy to remember for its nearly all-white look and bright yellow eyes. Females and young males usually carry more dark markings, so they look less clean-cut than adult males.

It is a wary hunter, but not strictly nocturnal. It often waits on the ground or a low rise, sits still for long stretches, then drops suddenly onto prey. Its voice is rough and barking, with harsh calls and sharp alarm notes.

It lives in tundra and other open country, then moves south in winter to more open landscapes such as forest-tundra, steppe, and sometimes places near settlements. Lemmings are its main food, but it also takes hares, ptarmigan, ducks, geese, and carrion, and in poor food years it may not breed at all.