Snowy Owl field guide

Field Guide

Common name	Snowy Owl
Scientific name	Bubo scandiacus
Family	Strigidae (Typical owls)
Size	24 in (61 cm) long (Audubon); 63 to 73 cm per ADW. Females outsize males.National Audubon Society · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan · Owl Research Institute
Wingspan	4 ft 7 in (1.4 m) per Audubon; ADW gives an average of 170 cm.National Audubon Society · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Weight	Males 700-2500 g (1.5-5.5 lbs); females 790-2950 g (2-6.5 lbs).Owl Research Institute
Lifespan	Oldest known wild bird at least 9 years 5 months; at least 28 years in captivity.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Diet	Lemmings, voles, mice, rabbits and hares, plus birds as big as geese; also fish and carrion.National Audubon Society · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Active when	Hunts at any hour in Arctic summer daylight; in winter Project SNOWstorm says it is active primarily at night, and field observers see it fairly inactive by day.Owl Research Institute · Project SNOWstorm · Project SNOWstorm
Range	Breeds on Arctic tundra in Alaska and northern Canada; winters in Canada and the northern US, with irruptions farther south.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan · Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Conservation status	IUCN Red List: Vulnerable; NatureServe global rank G4; COSEWIC (Canada): Threatened, May 2025.NatureServe Explorer

Field Marks

Large, round-headed white owl with yellow eyes and a black beak; it has very small ear tufts that are hard to see.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · The Peregrine Fund
Variable black barring: young females are heavily marked; old males are almost pure white.National Audubon Society
Juveniles tend to have the most black; adult females retain some darker markings, while males have the least.The Peregrine Fund
It takes several years for males to turn totally white.Owl Research Institute
Legs and feet are covered in white feathers.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
White owls seen in other climates of North America are usually American Barn Owls or downy young of other owl species.National Audubon Society

Habitat

Breeds on tundra from just north of treeline to the northernmost land, preferring very open tundra.National Audubon Society
Breeds on tundra primarily where mounds, hillocks or rocks are present; nests in a scrape on the ground, usually on a slightly raised site.NatureServe Explorer
Winters in open country, including prairies, farmland, coastal marshes, beaches and large airports.National Audubon Society
Also uses tidal shores and open leads in sea ice in winter.NatureServe Explorer
When it comes into northern Minnesota in winter it is sometimes seen hunting in railroad yards and other city areas. It usually perches on the ground, buildings or utility poles.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Inland wintering owls hunt along irrigation ditches and roadsides.Project SNOWstorm

Behavior

Usually hunts from a perch, then chases prey in swift flight and catches it in its talons; sometimes flies low or hovers.National Audubon Society
Finds prey by sight or sound, and can pinpoint rodents moving under snow by hearing.National Audubon Society · The Peregrine Fund
Some coastal wintering owls hunt offshore, presumably taking sleeping ducks, grebes and gulls; tracking has pinpointed channel markers and buoys they use as nighttime hunting perches.Project SNOWstorm
Project SNOWstorm's Scott Weidensaul says snowy owls are more active, and active earlier in the afternoon, on gloomy, cloudy days than on sunny ones, a pattern not evident from the tracking data.Project SNOWstorm
One owl may eat more than 1,600 lemmings in a year; extra food may be stored on a nearby perch.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Generally solitary and territorial; in winter, females set up territories they defend until spring.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Winter territories held by females may be 150-450 ha.NatureServe Explorer
Usually silent; gives a hoarse croak and shrill whistle on breeding grounds. Males hoot more than females and seem to use the hoot to establish and defend territory.National Audubon Society · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
In courtship the male flies with deep, slow wingbeats, often carrying a lemming, then leans forward with wings partly raised near the female.National Audubon Society
Egg laying begins early to mid-May; the female alone incubates for 31-33 days while the male brings food.NatureServe Explorer · National Audubon Society
Young may leave the ground nest after 2-3 weeks but cannot fly well until about 7 weeks.National Audubon Society
Both parents dive-bomb predators near the nest and use distraction displays to lead them away.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Snow geese nesting near snowy owl nests seem to benefit from the owls driving off competing predators.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Competes for lemmings with rough-legged hawks, golden eagles, gyrfalcons, jaegers, common ravens, arctic foxes and others.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Some snowy owls are killed by great horned owls, coyotes and foxes.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Winter

Irruptions south are mostly healthy young owls from a big Arctic breeding year fueled by lemmings, not starving birds.Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society) · Project SNOWstorm
Approximately every four years, many snowy owls irrupt into the northern US in winter.Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
In the 2013-2014 irruption, snowy owls reached as far south as Florida and Bermuda.Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society)
Leg and foot feathers are more densely layered than those of owls in warmer climates.The Peregrine Fund
White plumage camouflages it when hunting in snow-covered country.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · The Peregrine Fund

Questions

How big is a snowy owl?

Audubon gives 24 in (61 cm) long with a 4 ft 7 in (1.4 m) wingspan. Females outsize males and can weigh up to 2950 g (6.5 lbs).National Audubon Society · Owl Research Institute

Is a pure white snowy owl a male?

Audubon says old males are almost pure white and young females are heavily marked. The Owl Research Institute says it takes males several years to turn totally white.National Audubon Society · Owl Research Institute

Why do snowy owls come south some winters?

Irruptions follow good Arctic breeding years, when abundant lemmings produce many young owls. Most owls coming south are healthy, with normal weight and fat reserves.Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society) · Project SNOWstorm

Do snowy owls hunt in the daytime?

They will hunt at any time in the constant daylight of the Arctic summer. In winter, Project SNOWstorm says they are active primarily at night, and observers find them fairly inactive by day.Owl Research Institute · Project SNOWstorm · Project SNOWstorm

What does a snowy owl eat?

In the Arctic it may eat almost only lemmings when they are available. Otherwise it takes rabbits, hares, voles and ground squirrels, and in coastal areas birds such as ducks, geese and grebes; it may also eat fish and carrion.National Audubon Society

Where does a snowy owl nest?

On the ground in open tundra, in a shallow unlined scrape the female makes on a raised mound or hummock. The site may be reused for several years.National Audubon Society · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan

What kills snowy owls?

Natural predators include great horned owls, coyotes, foxes and jaegers. Wintering owls die mainly from vehicle and plane collisions, rodenticide poisoning and electrocution on power lines.Minnesota Department of Natural Resources · Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan · Project SNOWstorm

How close can I get to a snowy owl?

If an owl stares at you, bobs its head repeatedly or otherwise responds to you, you are too close. Back off and give it more space.Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society)

How many snowy owls are there?

A 2025 global status assessment puts the population at 14,000 to 28,000 breeding-age adults. The species is listed Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society) · NatureServe Explorer

Clips

A snowy owl with a white face, flecked crown, yellow eyes and dark-barred wing and breast sits behind a blurred white rise, its wing cut by the left edge, against a pale blue sky, looking straight at the camera.

Snowy owl in heavy barring stares into the lens

A heavily barred snowy owl stands on snow facing the camera with yellow eyes, dry brown weeds and wire fencing behind it, under partial burned-in text reading "e beauty of the snowy".

Barred snowy owl stands in snow by a wire fence

Two snowy owls in bare trees under a gray sky, a barred one on top of a broken dead trunk and a whiter one on a lower branch at right, a faint wind turbine at left.

Snowy owls by the dozen on one winter weekend

A heavily barred snowy owl flies straight toward the camera over a snow-dusted field of dry grass, wings raised high, with the white wingtip of a second owl at the lower right.

Barred snowy owl swoops low over a winter field

A white snowy owl with dark flecks on its wings, flank and crown, eyes half closed, perches on top of a weathered wooden post, head turned to one side, as snow falls over a misty brown field.

Male snowy owl holds his post in falling snow

A heavily barred snowy owl hovers against a clear blue sky with wings spread wide and feathered legs and talons lowered, high above a pine tip at the lower right, where the edge of a second white owl shows at the frame's edge.

Snowy owls joust for the top of a pine tree

A white snowy owl with yellow eyes and a scatter of black spots on its wing stands on open snow, head turned toward the camera, against a pale blue-gray background.

Snowy owls winter on the fields of rural Ottawa

A barred snowy owl with both wings raised stands on the top block of a tall pile of pale blue-white ice under a gray-blue sky.

Snowy owl raises her wings atop an ice fortress

A black raven and a white snowy owl with dark-flecked wings perch side by side on two green bins under a grey sky, the raven turned toward the owl, which faces the camera.

Raven tests a snowy owl that refuses to budge

A heavily barred snowy owl sits low on the snow and stares straight into the lens with round yellow eyes.

A heavily barred snowy owl stands on open snow in front of a weedy wire fence and looks straight into the camera on a pale winter day.

On a two-day winter trip the filmer counted 32 snowy owls in a single day, filming a late-arriving pair side by side and a male calling from a tree he shares with another male.

Queen B, a female snowy owl, charges rival owls off her winter field, once knocking a male from his post while he still gripped a vole.

A near-white male snowy owl watches from his post above a Canadian field overrun with voles, with a brief visit from the female he roosts with and heavy snow at the end of the day.

A barred female snowy owl and a whiter, smaller male knock each other off the tallest pine top before sundown, day after day, and the male holds his ground.

Through the 2022-2023 winter in southwest rural Ottawa, snowy owls doze on fence posts and skim the fields while a young female hunts.

A barred snowy owl roosts on the summit of a heap of broken ice on frozen water in Ontario in March 2019 and, at one point, raises both wings over the peak.

A raven drops in on a snowy owl perched on a golf course bin, tests it for a reaction, then switches to bowing and wing-flaring when the owl will not budge.

Sources

Snowy Owl (Guide to North American Birds), National Audubon Society
Nyctea scandiaca (snowy owl), Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan
Bubo scandiacus, Snowy Owl, NatureServe Explorer
Snowy owl, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
Snowy Owl, The Peregrine Fund
Snowy Owl, Owl Research Institute
Frequently Asked Questions, Answered!, Project SNOWstorm
SNOWday Science: Are Snowy Owls Diurnal or Nocturnal?, Project SNOWstorm
An Unexpected Baby Boom Is Bringing Snowy Owls South This Winter, Audubon Magazine (National Audubon Society)
Q170177 (Snowy Owl), Wikidata