Snowy Owl

This ghostlike predator is wrapped up warm, and perfectly adapted to its arctic home.

This ghostlike predator is wrapped up warm, and perfectly adapted to its arctic home. With its all-white plumage it is one of the most distinctive of the owls. Its thick feathers extend right over its taloned feet, and even its bill is mostly covered with feathers, offering superb insulation against the cold.

The Snowy Owl spends most of its time on the ground or perching on low rocks and uses its extraordinary eyesight and hearing to locate distant or snow-covered prey, which it then ambushes silently.

Like most owls, the Snowy Owl will swallow its prey whole, taking in fur, feathers and bones. It will then regurgitate these indigestible bits later in the form of compact pellets.

Where are they found?:

The Snowy Owl is found in the Arctic tundra and the northernmost stretches of Alaska, Canada and Europe and Asia.

Scientific name:

Nyctea scandiaca

Family:

Strigidae

Order:

Strigiformes

Lifespan:

In the wild, an average of 9.5 years

Fast facts:

The Snowy Owl is also known as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl.

Snowy owls can eat as many as 1,600 lemmings in a year!

The Snowy Owl swallows its prey whole and then regurgitates the remains!

Conservation status:

Least concern

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