Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

The iconic white-feathered owl found in the arctic - and Hogwarts!

What you need to know about the Snowy Owl

Our Expert Says… "You don't see Snowy Owls on Svalbard trips because there are no lemmings here. Snowy Owls are so specialized in hunting the creatures that you don't find them anywhere there isn't a lemming population. The best encounters are to be had when exploring Greenland."

The snowy owl is the iconic owl species of the Arctic region. Sometimes called the polar owl or Arctic own, the snowy owl is one of the only true owls with mainly white plumage and is one of the world’s largest owls. Females are larger than males and can weigh over 2.2kg (5lb), stand up to 71cm (28”) tall, and have wingspans of over 1.5m (5ft).

Snowy owls are tundra specialists and have several adaptations to this environment. Unlike many owls, snowy owls are active during the day, especially in summer. They are nomadic birds, rarely breeding in the same place, and they will not breed at all if the prey population is low.

Although they have a wide variety of prey outside of the breeding season, their breeding success is tied closely to the population of the tundra-dwelling rodent the lemming. They are also migratory birds, and populations can move from north to south virtually anywhere in the arctic region.

In years where prey is plentiful, the snowy owl population can see increases in population due to reduced chick mortality that can cause the birds to extend their winter ranges much further south than usual. In the Arctic summer, they are found north of 60 degrees latitude anywhere there is open tundra.

These habits make it difficult to assess the population, but the latest estimates put their numbers at fewer than 100,000 individuals worldwide, with possibly fewer than 40,000 breeding pairs. This makes their current conservation status “vulnerable”.

Pictures of Snowy Owl

Snowy Owl

Highlights where the Snowy Owl can be seen

Greenland
Blomsterbukta

‘Flower Bay’, a great walk along a gulley to a lake at Blomsterbogten and to explore the tundra for flowers and wildlife, plus a hunter’s cabin. Part of the King Oscar Fjord system it is often combined with a visit to Ella Island in the same day.

QuarkExpeditions_ Canada Epic High Arctic
Cambridge Bay

Situated on the SE coast of Victoria Island (the 8th largest in the World), and the largest community on the Island. As well as the community focus there is the history of the area

The first Europeans to reach Cambridge Bay were overland explorers led by Thomas Simpson in 1839; searching for the Northwest Passage and crossing the sea ice to Cambridge Bay by foot. Another overland expedition was led by John Rae who reached Cambridge Bay in 1851. The first ship to reach the bay was HMS Enterprise under Richard Collinson who wintered there in 1852/53. Both Rae and Collinson were searching for Franklin's lost expedition.

Greenland
Ella Island

Located at the mouth of Kempe Fjord in the northern end of King Oscar Fjord. With the larger islands to the east such as Geographical Society Island.

It is in the middle of the King Oscar Fjord and Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord ‘complex’ that matches Scoresbysund to the south. It is a great area to explore with stunning scenery, often the first Greenland landscape that many cruise ships experience that have come across from Svalbard, and you may even find wolf tracks on walks ashore. But expeditions tend to spend more time in Scoresbysund since the entrance to this fjord system can be blocked off by sea-ice drifting south in the cold southern flowing East Greenland current.

kugulutuk
Kugulutuk

Located at the mouth of the Coppermine River in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada, on the southwest side of Coronation Gulf, southwest of Victoria Island.

It is the westernmost community in Nunavut, near the border with the Northwest Territories. There is an airport and Kugulutuk is a location where small expedition ships may drop and pick up passengers before or after a trip through the northwest Passage (rather than a longer trip right through the Bering Strait).

Good place to see a range of 'high' Arctic birds typical of this remote part of Canada.

Our trips to spot the Snowy Owl