Snowy Owl
Jan 31, 2025 ● By Julieanne Nitz Weiss
Photo credit ©Carol Freeman Photography
An arctic dweller that nests on the tundra, the snowy owl makes periodic movements farther south in winter when food, including the lemming, is scarce.
One of the world’s largest owls, the snowy can have a wingspread of up to 6 feet. It stands 20 to 27 inches tall. When snowy owls move south in winter, they can be found in cornfields, short grasslands and along coastal shorelines, which resemble their tundra home.
Distribution: Snowy owls nest in the Arctic tundra, moving south in winter, sometimes as far south as Texas and Georgia, though more frequently in the Northeast and northern Midwest.
Fun Facts:
• Males are nearly pure white, females have flecks of black and juveniles appear more dark than white.
• Harry Potter made the snowy owl famous when he kept one of them as his pet in the books written by J.K. Rowling.
• Unlike some other owls, snowy owls hunt during the day.
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