Adaptations
Dense feathers cover much of the body, legs, and feet, limiting heat loss in exposed landscapes. Broad wings support low searching flights, and pale plumage provides camouflage; adult males tend to become whiter than females and younger birds.
Behavior and daily life
From a low rise or perch, a snowy owl watches for lemmings and other prey before making a direct flight or ground-level approach. Nests are shallow scrapes on open ground, where the adult relies on visibility rather than tree cover.
Conservation
Current profile labelVulnerable
Long-term monitoring is difficult across the remote Arctic, but climate-driven changes to tundra food webs and breeding habitat are important concerns. Collisions, disturbance, and vehicle strikes can also affect owls wintering farther south.
Unlike many owls, snowy owls regularly hunt in daylight, an essential ability during the nearly continuous light of an Arctic summer.
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