Snowy Owl

Meet "Ella!" Ella is a snowy owl with a wing injury.

About Snowy Owls
(Information taken from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology)

At the extreme northern margins of the arctic tundra lives the Snowy Owl, the northernmost, heaviest, and most distinctively marked owl of North America. Largely diurnal, it spends much of its time perched still and silent on prominent lookouts, waiting to make forays for prey.

Description

• Size: 52-71 cm (20-28 in)
• Wingspan: 126-145 cm (50-57 in)
• Weight: 1600-2950 g (56.48-104.14 ounces)
• Large, white owl.
• Some dark barring.
• Variable amounts of dark brown barring on head, wings, back, breast, and tail.
• Eyes yellow.
• Feet white and completely feathered.
• Bill black and mostly covered by feathers.

Sex Differences

• Female slightly larger and more heavily barred. Male may be entirely white.

Immature

• Immature like adult female. Male gets whiter as it ages.

Food

• Lemmings, when available. Also rabbits, rodents, waterfowl, other birds, and fish.

Range

Summer Range:

• Breeds in high Arctic from coastal Alaska across Canada to Labrador. Also in northern Greenland, Scandinavia, and Russia.

Winter Range:

• Winters from breeding grounds southward to northern United States.

Habitat

• Breeds on open tundra. Winters in fields and on beaches.

Behavior

Foraging:

• 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.

Reproduction

Nest Type:

• A scrape in the ground, formed into a rounded depression by the female.

Egg Description:

• White.

Clutch Size:

• 3-11 eggs.

Condition at Hatching:

• Covered in white down, eyes closed.

Conservation Status

• 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.

Sound

• Generally silent in winter. Call a deep, powerful hoot. Also a series of harsh clicking.

Our Other Educational Birds:

American Kestrel
Bald Eagle
Barn Owl
Barred Owl
Great Blue Heron
Great Horned Owl
Peregrine Falcon
Red Tailed Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Rough Legged Hawk
Snowy Owl
Screech Owl
Trumpeter Swan
Turkey Vulture

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