1 / 4
Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) — photo 1 of 4
© Bill Bouton from San Luis Obispo, CA, USA CC BY-SA 2.0

Owls

Snowy Owl

Bubo scandiacus

How to recognize it

  • Goose-sized

  • Mostly white plumage, females and juveniles with more dark markings

  • Bright yellow eyes, black bill

  • Steady, direct flight; often active by day

About the species

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.

Where to find

  • On open winter lots, airfield fields, and wide lawns — anywhere with little cover and plenty of mice, a Snowy Owl is most likely to stand out sitting on the ground or a low post.

  • Along frozen water, canal edges, and the ice fringe — especially early in the morning, when it makes a short dash at ducks or gulls.

  • Near warehouses, under bridges, and by landfill edges on the city fringe — rats and pigeons can draw it in, and the giveaway is a motionless white shape on a roof or chimney.

You might also see

Sources