Snowy Owls are diurnal, unlike most other owls, and spend the 24-hour summer daylight hunting in the arctic. They may visit coastal dunes, lakeshores, prairies, and other shrubby environments that are similar to what they have in the Arctic. However, they may move southward for the winter when prey is lacking. Grassy meadows and marshes are favorite areas for hunting.

You can find Snowy Owls in open Arctic tundra and prefer to situate themselves in areas with vantage points like hummocks, ridges, knolls, and bluffs so that they can keep a close watch on their surroundings. Snowy Owls breed in the arctic around the world, including the north of Canada, and migrate to southern Canada and northern US states. Juveniles have extensive brown barring all over their bodies except their faces, underwings, legs, and feet. They have thick dark bars on their wingtips but incomplete bars on their tails. Snowy Owls have bright yellow eyes, and their legs and feet are fully covered with feathers to protect them from the cold, harsh weather of the Arctic. They also have thicker and more complete barring on their tails compared to the males. Male Snowy Owls are either white all over or have a small amount of brown spots.įemale Snowy Owls have flecks of dark brown to black on their backs, wings, and flanks, unlike the more white males. They appear in 2% of winter checklists submitted by bird watchers for the province. Snowy Owls are vulnerable species in Ontario but they spend winter in the south from November to mid-April, and some are also spotted during migration in the north of the province.

Strongest birds of prey