Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Strigiformes > Strigidae > Bubo > Bubo scandiacus

Bubo scandiacus (Snowy Owl; harfang des neiges)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, white owl of the typical owl family. Snowy owls are native to Arctic regions in North America and Eurasia. Males are almost all white, while females have more flecks of black plumage. Juvenile snowy owls have black feathers until they turn white. The snowy owl is a ground nester that predominantly hunts rodents.
View Wikipedia Record: Bubo scandiacus

Endangered Species

Status: Vulnerable
View IUCN Record: Bubo scandiacus

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  4.244 lbs (1.925 kg)
Birth Weight [3]  45 grams
Female Weight [5]  5.024 lbs (2.279 kg)
Male Weight [5]  3.982 lbs (1.806 kg)
Weight Dimorphism [5]  26.2 %
Breeding Habitat [2]  Arctic tundra
Wintering Geography [2]  Northern U.S./Canada
Wintering Habitat [2]  Generalist, Agricultural
Diet [1]  Carnivore (Vertebrates)
Clutch Size [6]  4
Clutches / Year [3]  1
Fledging [4]  48 days
Incubation [3]  32 days
Mating Display [7]  Non-acrobatic aerial display
Maximum Longevity [3]  28 years
Raptor Research Conservation Priority [8]  70
Snout to Vent Length [4]  24 inches (60 cm)
Female Maturity [3]  2 years
Male Maturity [3]  2 years

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

+ Click for partial list (100)Full list (125)

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Mountains of Central Asia Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan No

Emblem of

Quebec

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

Predators

Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Bald Eagle)[9]
Homo sapiens (man)[9]

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Chondria capillaris[16]
Cyrnea longispicula <Unverified Name>[16]
Microtetrameres canadensis <Unverified Name>[16]

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Storchová, Lenka; Hořák, David (2018), Data from: Life-history characteristics of European birds, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n6k3n
♦ 2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
♦ 3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 4Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 5Kerlinger, P. & Lein, MR (1988) Causes of mortality, fat condition, and weights of wintering Snowy Owls. J. Field Orn. 59: 7–12
♦ 6Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 7Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 8Buechley ER, Santangeli A, Girardello M, et al. Global raptor research and conservation priorities: Tropical raptors fall prey to knowledge gaps. Divers Distrib. 2019;25:856–869. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12901
♦ 9Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 10OLIVIER GILG1, BENOÎT SITTLER, AND ILKKA HANSKI, WILL COLLARED LEMMINGS AND THEIR PREDATORS BE THE FIRST VERTEBRATES TO “FALL OVER THE CLIFF” IN GREENLAND DUE TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGES? Gyrfalcons and Ptarmigan in a Changing World – Conference Proceedings 2011, p. 131-132
♦ 11Predator–prey relationships: arctic foxes and lemmings, Anders Angerbjorn, Magnus Tannerfeldt and Sam Erlinge, Journal of Animal Ecology, Volume 68, Issue 1, Pages 34-49
♦ 12Lepus arcticus, Troy L. Best and Travis Hill Henry, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 457, pp. 1-9 (1994)
♦ 13Mustela frenata, Steven R. Sheffield and Howard H. Thomas, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 570, pp. 1-9 (1997)
♦ 14Phenacomys ungava (Rodentia: Cricetidae), JANET K. BRAUN, SARA B. GONZALEZ-PEREZ, GARRETT M. STREET, JENNIE M. MOOK, AND NICHOLAS J. CZAPLEWSKI, MAMMALIAN SPECIES 45(899):18–29 (2013)
♦ 15Spermophilus richardsonii, Gail R. Michener and James W. Koeppl, Mammalian Species No. 243, pp. 1-8, (1985)
♦ 16Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0