Snowy owl

Snowy Owl
Male or very light female
Conservation status
Least Concern
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Strigiformes
Family:	Strigidae
Genus:	Bubo
Species:	B. scandiacus
Binomial name
Bubo scandiacus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Strix scandiaca Linnaeus, 1758 Nyctea scandiaca Stephens, 1826

The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. It is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl. Until recently, it was regarded as the sole member of a distinct genus, as Nyctea scandiaca, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data (Olsen et al. 2002) shows that it is very closely related to the horned owls in the genus Bubo.

Description

Typical female, Korkeasaari (Finland)

This yellow-eyed white bird is easily recognizeable. It is 53-65 cm (20-26 inches) long with a 125-150 cm (50-60 in) wingspan. The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; the young are heavily barred, and dark spotting may even be predominate. Its thick plumage, heavily-feathered feet, and coloration render the Snowy Owl well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle.

Snowy Owl calls are varied, but the alarm call is a barking, almost quacking krek-krek-krek-krek; the female also has a softer mewling pyee-pyee-pyee-pyee or prek-prek-prek. The song is a deep repeated gawh. They may also clap their beak in response to threats or annoyances. While called clapping, it is believed this sound may actually be a clicking of the tongue, not the beak.

Behaviour

Young Owl on the tundra at Barrow Alaska

The Snowy Owl is typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. During the last ice age, there was a Central European paleosubspecies of this bird, Bubo scandiacus gallicus, but subspecies are not recognized among the living population.

This species of owl nests on the ground, building a scrape on top of a mound or boulder. A site with good visibility, ready access to hunting areas, and a lack of snow is chosen. Gravel bars and abandoned eagle nests may be used. Breeding occurs in May, and depending on the amount of prey available, clutch sizes range from 5 to 14 eggs, which are laid singly, approximately every other day over the course of several days. Hatching takes place approximately five weeks after laying, and the pure white young are cared for by both parents. Both the male and the female defend the nest with their young from predators. Some stay on the breeding grounds while others migrate.

Range

In Canada

Snowy Owls winter south through Canada and northernmost Eurasia, with irruptions occurring further south in some years. They have been reported as far south as Texas, Georgia, the American Gulf states, southern Russia, northern China and even the Caribbean. Between 1967 and 1975, Snowy Owls bred on the remote island of Fetlar in the Shetland Isles north of Scotland, UK. Females summered as recently as 1993, but their status in the British Isles is now that of a rare winter visitor to Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms.

Diet

This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other rodents for food, but at times of low prey density, or during the Ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to juvenile Ptarmigan. As opportunistic hunters, they feed on a wide variety of small mammals and birds, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Nesting birds require roughly two lemmings per day, and a family may eat up to 1500 lemmings before the young birds set off to fend for themselves.

In popular culture

• The O RLY? owl is a Snowy Owl.
• In the 1994 film, Dumb and Dumber, Lloyd Christmas (Jim Carrey) accidentally kills an Icelandic Snowy Owl with the cork of a bottle by launching it.
• The Snowy Owl is the official bird of Quebec.
• The Snowy Owl was depicted on the 1986 series Canadian $50 note [1].
• A Snowy White Owl named "Gamma" is the mascot of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta.
• The Snowy Owl is a familiar in the popular online game, Kingdom of Loathing.
• In the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, Harry's owl, Hedwig, is a Snowy Owl.
  • Although female, Hedwig is played by a male owl in the Harry Potter movies because males are more thoroughly white, lacking the barring of females.
• Queen Siv's servant Myrrthe from the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" book series was a Snowy owl. So were Borron and Barran, Madame Plonk ,and The Rogue Smith of Silverveil.
• The Inuit name for the Snowy Owl is "ookpik", "okpik" or "ukpik"
  • Okpik, a cold-weather adventure program for the Boy Scouts of America
  • Abe Okpik, an Inuvialuit who was instrumental in helping Inuit obtain surnames
  • The Snowy Owl is one of many animals featured in the 2002 game Impossible Creatures

References

• Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.

External links

• The Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus - Information, Pictures and call
• Cancu Ota, and a tale of Owl and Raven
• Snowy Owl Information Sheet
• Free Online Video About Snowy Owls
• Snowy Owl Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Snowy Owl Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Snowy Owl Bubo scandiacus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Stamps