Snowy Owl by Dara

Appearance: The snowy owl is 20 to 24 inches high. Their wing span is 4 and a half feet long. All winter long, the snowy owl is all white to camouflage to the snow so other animals won't see it when it's hunting for food. In the summer, the snowy owls have brown spots all over it shaped liked arrows so they can camouflage to the rocks. Also, the snowy owl's eyes are very sensitive to the light. Because it's a night animal, all the food it likes is out at night and that's the time when it goes out looking for food. But in the summer, the snowy owl has to hunt in the day light because the sun never sets in the the summer. In the winter, it's much easier for them to hunt because it's always dark.

Habitat: The snowy owl lives in the Arctic tundra. It nests on the ground because there are not many trees, and the trees are very short. When they are too short, the snowy owl's enemies or other animals might come and attack the nest. The nest is made up of dry tundra leaves. They nest on a mound or a small hill so it's easier for the snowy owls to watch out for other animals.

Food: The snowy owls eat rodents, rabbits, and other kinds of birds. But most of all, they love to eat the lemmings. The lemmings are their favorite type of food. But when the lemming is no where around, the snowy owl flies to Northern United States and Southern Canada to find other food to eat or they just stay in the Arctic and eat the other food they like to eat.

Eniemies: The snowy owls watch out for wolves, hawks, and sometimes bears because all of those animals want to eat the snowy owl and attack the snowy owl's nest. Sometimes the snowy owl's enemies can't find the nest because the nest is made up of dry tundra plants and the plants make the nest camouflage to the rocks. But in the winter the nest is surrounded by snow so the nest camouflages to the snow.

Life Cycle: When the snowy owls lay eggs and they hatch, the parents have to stay with the eggs for about 2 weeks before the baby snowy owls can leave the nest. In the summer, the nest blends to the rocks because it is made up of dry tundra plants and the plants can camouflage to the rocks so other animals can't find it. In the winter, the nest has snow all around it so the eggs and the nest both camouflage to the snow. When the baby snowy owls want to eat food, the father usually leaves the nest for a little while to find food for the baby snowy owls or sometimes the mother goes and finds the food for the babies. When they feed the babies, the parents put the food gently down their throats.

Other Facts: The snowy owl likes to land in places as open as possible. But when it goes hunting for other food in Canada, or United States, people like to see the snowy owls and the owl gets scared. Also they like to land in places as open as possible because in the Arctic tundra, they are used to land in open places. When they eat an animal, they dissolve the meat into fur, bones, and teeth and then it spits it out.

Click here to start the blizzard of questions

Back to Arctic Animal Main Page