Snowy Owl Facts and Snowy Owl Pictures

The birds of the order Strigiformes are owls of all kinds: barn owls, screech owls, horned owls. Owls have been used as symbols of wisdom; they have been considered also as birds of ill omen. This superstitious fear is probably due to their silent flight, to the disconcerting stare of their big round eyes, to their nocturnal habits, to their mournful cry, to their hooked beak, and to the almost human expressions which they sometimes have. In the literature of fantasy, every witch’s den must have an owl as part of its equipment, and the same is true for haunted castles, where owls always watch from the battlements.

More realistic and better-informed lovers of animals and nature have done much to protect these innocent and useful creatures. On the basis of overwhelming factual data, they have had laws passed to protect the owls. Regardless of the aspect of these birds, be it beautiful or ugly, there is no doubt about the services owls render to agriculture, because they destroy an enormous quantity of small rodents such as field mice, and voles, and rabbits. For this reason the hunting of owls by men, either by trapping or shooting, is now prohibited by law in many countries.

The night-flying and night-calling owls, about which man has invented so many mysterious and even sinister tales, live in the temperate regions. But in the arctic regions of the world, the snowy owl flies by day, merging with the dazzling whiteness of the snow-covered tundra. This magnificent owl passes its life in the arctic tundra, with the exception of a short period in the middle of each winter, when it makes a seasonal migratory trip to the forests at the tundra’s edge.Magnificent is an apt word for the snowy owl. It stands about twenty-five inches tall and its soft, thick plumage covers its entire body, except for the talons. Some birds are nearly all white; others are flecked with brownish-black feathers. Its eyes are an unusually bright yellow, with a black ring surrounding the iris.

These birds hunt mainly by day. The tundra does not provide the same abundance of game that the forest does, and hunger is a constant menace. Fortunately for this handsome, strong-flying bird of prey, there are the lemmings, very lively little rodents whose flesh is one of the birds’ main foods. But the lemmings have a periodic increase of population which causes their mass migrations to the south. During such migrations, a large number of lemmings disappear, either as prey for other animals, or because of starvation or illness. Finally, the lemmings’ migrations may come to an end when these little creatures meet the sea—the ones that are left are said to rush into the waters and swim to their death. The lemmings do not reproduce regularly in the same numbers, so the snowy owl is not always sure of finding enough of them to provide it with nourishment. Therefore, the owl has to look for other animals, such as arctic hare, ducks, and, less often, the ptarmigan, for food. When the food supplies are low in the Far North, the snowy owls may migrate southward during the winter months. They then appear in northern United States, in Great Britain and in northern Europe.

The adult snowy owl has practically no enemies in its arctic home, except for man. The baby owls, on the other hand, are endangered by the arctic fox, and especially so because the nest they live in is very rudimentary. It is usually on top of a small rise in the tundra. In the hollow of the nest are the white eggs, about seven in good years when the food is plentiful, about two or three in years when food is scarce. Only the female sits on the nest, but her mate stays nearby. The female watches over the newly hatched young with great care; she and the male supply food to the brood. The mother bird protects her young from the arctic cold by covering them with her ventral feathers and with her outspread wings.

The snowy owl is wary of man, who brings it only death or captivity. It usually does not do well in captivity.
On rare occasions, the Eskimos eat the meat of this beautiful bird. It is very hard to trap, and shooting it in flight calls for great skill on the part of the hunter.

Snowy Owl Pictures