Facts and Knowledge:

The snowy owl is one of the worlds largest owls.  It hunts mainly during the twilight hours in the desolate and bitterly cold Arctic tundra that is its home.  The snowy owl lives on lemming in short supply, and when the Arctic Winter is exceptionally severe, this great while owl migrates south in search of food.

Breeding: The male snowy owl has a large territory, and , when mating, his cries can be heard six miles away in the thin Arctic air.  He will sometimes chase and fight with another male in midair.  A female, too, will defend territory or a potential mate against other of her own sex.

The females makes a nest in a hollow in the ground. Like other species of owl, the female snowy owl will stagger her egg laying. This gives the older, stronger chicks the advantage in periods when food is in short supply.  They eat most of the food their parents bring to the nest and they may even kill and eat their younger, weaker nest mates.

The owlets hatch after a 30 period incubation period, using a temporary "egg tooth" to crack through the shell.  They are covered with thin white down which is soon replaced by a coat of sooty black down.  At 43 to 50 days, they are able to hunt for themselves.

Food & Hunting: In the Arctic, the snowy owl feeds mainly on lemmings and an occasional mouse. Elsewhere, it will eat rabbits, hares, and birds. Unlike most owls the snowy owl rarely hunts at night.  It seeks its prey in the twilight of early morning and evening.  It seizes its prey with its sharp claws, called talons.

The long Arctic winter brings many hours of darkness and numbing cold, but the snowy owl's thick feathers keep it well insulated and warm.  Food is scare during the harsh winter months in the tundra, and the snowy owl is capable of fasting for up to 40 days at a time.  It survives on the thick deposits of fat under its skin that it has acquired during the summer and further conserves its energy by moving as little as possible.

Characteristics:  The snowy owl is the largest birds in the Arctic region.  The male is almost entirely white, with a few dark markings among his feathers.  The female has more dark feathers than the male, concentrated into barred markings on her wings, breast, and underside.  She has longer claws and can be a much as one fifth larger and one third heavier than the male.  This marked difference in appearance between the sexes is unique among owls.

Migration: The snowy owl is a wanderer, moving south in winter when prey is scarce in the far north.  At intervals, the lemmings that form the species' main prey suffer a dramatic and sudden drop in their population, and the snowy owls move much further south.  The owls sometimes migrate as fat as the Caribbean Sea.  They have been long rare in Europe, but careful protection enable one pair to breed successfully in Scotland. In eight seasons they'd borne twenty three healthy young.

Key Facts: Sizes, Weight, breeding, lifestyle, related Species

Length: 21 to 26 inc. Females larger inches
Wing Span: 60 to 65 in

Breeding:
Sexual maturity: 2  years
Breeding Season: May - Sept.
No. Of broods: 1
Gestation: 30 to 33 days
Fledgling: 45 to 50 days
Eggs: 3 to 9, smooth, glossy white.

Lifestyle:
Call: Breeding males, a loud booming hoot. Both sexes, a harsh bark when defensive
Habit: Hunts mainly at dawn and dusk, basically solitary.
Diet:  Lemmings, small animals, dusk, other birds.
Related Species: No owls are closely related

Distribution: Breeds throughout the Arctic region, from Iceland and Scandinavia to Siberia, Alaska, Canada, and Greenland.
Conservation: Despite its protected status, the snowy owl is often threatened when in contact with humans, Its population fluctuates, so its number is hard to estimate.

Did you know:

Archaeologists have found snowy owl bones in kitchen waste thrown out by Neolithic people. Today Eskimos sometimes eat owl meat when other  food is scarce.

If a predator, such as a wolf or an arctic fox, nears the nest, the owls often attacks the intruder fearlessly, swooping down on it and striking it with their talons.

Sometimes a parent will fake injury, dragging its wing along the ground, to lure the predator away from the eggs or young.
 

A comparison between the sexes:

Female: 20% larger than the male.  Her dark - flecked, white plumage provides camouflage against the background of partly melted snow and rocks, as she lies flat on her nest in early summer.

Feathers:  Thick and downy, covering all except the tip of the bill and claws.  They contain insulating air pockets.

Male: Plumage is almost totally white, and can be seen up to 1 1/4 miles away from his mate.

Courtship flight:  Male holds wings in a "V" shape on each beat, causing undulating flight.

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