Snowy Owls
Introduction
Snowy Owl Distribution
Snowy owls have many names such as Arctic Owl and Great Owl. Snowy owls live in the Arctic Circle in the northernnorthern parts of Canada,Canada, the United States, EuropeEurope and Asia.Asia. They live in the tundratundra but they can go south lookinglooking for food in habitatshabitats from fields and swamps to beaches.
Appearance
The old snowy owl males have white plumageplumage but Diagram of a Snowy Owl
when they arethey’re youngeryounger they have speckledspeckled bodybodies with brown spots and white faces. Snowy owl bodies are 60 centimetres long. They have big eyes, which are golden.golden. Their eyes also face forward. The snowy owls have toes that are coveredcovered in dense feathers with sharp black talonstalons to snatch their prey. Their beaks are dark, short, strong, pointypointy and curved.
Diet and Movement
Snowy owls catch and eat rodents,rodents, hares and rabbits,rabbits, fish, and birds from tiny songbirdssongbirds to big geese and ducks. But their favouriteavourite food is lemmings,lemmings, a kind of rodent. These owls hunt in the day time as well as at night. WaitingWaiting 
The snowy owl is looking for food.patiently,patiently, they will soar swiftlyswiftly to pursuepursue their prey.
Life Cycle
Snowy owls mate in May. When there is not much food aroundaround they lay three to five eggs and when there is lots of food they lay seven to 15. Females sit on the eggs while the males bring them food. The eggs hatch in 32 days. Both females and males will defend the nest, even when there are wolf.wolves The young leave the nest in 25 to 26 days and they are not able to fly well until at least 50 days. The parents keep feedingfeeding them until then.
Danger
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Snowy Owls dive bomb at approaching predators to keep them away from their nests. |
They are aggressiveaggressive predatorspredators that will defenddefend their nests. UnfortunatelyUnfortunately their habitat is being lost to human development, and they get run over by cars or caught up in powerpower lines. HuntersHunters kill them for their eyes and feet which are usedused in AsianAsian medicine.
Conclusion
Snowy owls are large, hardyhardy owls. Their white colour lets them camouflagecamouflage against the snow. They love to eat lemmings and only let their populationpopulation grow when there are plentyplenty of lemmings around. Some years they do notdon’t breed at all. They are wonderfulwonderful flyfliers with a wing span of about 1.5 metres. HopefullyHopefully these beautiful animals will not die out due to globalglobal warming.
Glossary
| aggressive | very angry | lemmings | a kind of small rodent that is their main food source |
| Arctic Circle | imaginary circle around the North Pole | plumage | feathers |
| global warming | warming of the Earth through human activity | rodents | small mammals like rats, mice and guinea pigs |
| habitat | where animals live | speckled | covered in spots or bars of another colour |
| hardy | copes with tough conditions | tundra | treeless flat Arctic region where subsoil is permanently frozen |
Bibliography
Mrs Nunweek's Fact File
By Liam W
Photograph by Floyd Davidson
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