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.