Measurements
Both Sexes
- Length
- 20.5–28 in
52–71 cm - Wingspan
- 49.6–57.1 in
126–145 cm - Weight
- 56.4–104.1 oz
1600–2950 g
Other Names
- Harfang des neiges (French)
Cool Facts
- Snowy Owl pairs fiercely defend their nests against predators, even wolves.
- An individual adult Snowy Owl may eat three to five lemmings per day, or up to 1,600 per year.
- The Snowy Owl can be found represented in cave paintings in Europe.
- In some years, some North American Snowy Owls remain on their breeding grounds year-round, while others migrate in winter to southern Canada and the northern half of the contiguous United States. In the northern plains, New York, and New England, Snowy Owls occur regularly in winter. Elsewhere, such as in the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and eastern Canada, Snowy Owls are irruptive, appearing only in some winters but not in others.
- Young male Snowy Owls are barred with dark brown and get whiter as they get older. Females keep some dark markings throughout their lives. Young males tend to have a white bib, a white back of the head, and fewer rows of bars on the tail than females. Although the darkest males and the palest females are nearly alike in color, the whitest birds are always males and the most heavily barred ones are always females. Some old males can be nearly pure white.
Habitat
Grassland
Breeds on open tundra. Winters in fields and on beaches.
Food
Mammals
Lemmings, when available. Also rabbits, rodents, waterfowl, other birds, and fish.
Nesting
Nesting Facts
- Clutch Size
- 3–11 eggs
- Egg Description
- White.
- Condition at Hatching
- Covered in white down, eyes closed.
Nest Description
A scrape in the ground, formed into a rounded depression by the female.
Nest Placement
Ground
Behavior
Aerial Dive
Male's territorial display includes booming hoots and threat postures, including puffing out throat, raising tail, and bowing deeply. Waits on a perch until it locates prey, then pursues and seizes prey in its talons. Can also locate prey visually or by sound, even in dense grass or under thick layers of snow.
Conservation
Least Concern
Population sizes difficult to estimate because of size and remoteness of habitat. No information on long-term population changes, except an apparent decline in northern Europe.
Credits
- American Ornithologists' Union. 2003. Forty-fourth supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union Check-list of North American Birds. Auk 120: 923-931.
- Parmelee, D. 1992. Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca). In The Birds of North America, No. 10 (A. Poole, P. Stettenheim, and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, DC: The American Ornithologists' Union.