Blog

27

Jan

Snowy Owl

We are fortunate to have these beautiful arctic birds visit our area each winter. The Snowy Owls can often be spotted sitting on the tops of hydro poles, signs along side our highways or outbuildings. These owls are diurnal, meaning they are active both day and night. Their preferance for higher perches allows them to scan their hunting territory ( in our case the open prairie fields ) for small rodents or rabbits. They breed in the high arctic where their prey would be lemmings and sometimes ptarmigan. Both parents are fiece defenders of the nest and young owlets. The Snowy Owl featured here is either a female or immature bird as it has fairly extensive black markings. An adult male would be mainly white with fewer dark areas. Their bill is black, their eyes yellow and feet are heavily feathered. Snowy owls can weigh in the 6 pound range and have a wingspan of up to 59 inches which makes it one of our largest species of owls.