SNOWY OWLS

The Snowy Owl (a/k/a polar owl, white owl or Arctic owl) is native to the Arctic tundra regions of both North America and the Palearctic.  It is one of the world's largest owls.  

Palearctic Region

The snowy owl eyes are yellow and proportionately smaller than most owl eyes.  They cannot move their eyes, so they look around by turning their heads.  Their necks are flexible and can rotate about 270 degrees.

Most owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, but the snowy owl is often active during the day, 'specially in the summertime. 

Some years the snowy owls stay in the Arctic year-round.  Other years they migrate south to the northern United States and southern Canada.  In New York and New England, snowy owls are regular winter visitors.  In the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest and eastern Canada they appear only some winters.  Massachusetts has some popular sighting areas for snowy owls, including Westport, New Bedford, Nantucket, Orleans, Duxbury Beach, Cranes Beach, Salisbury State Park, and Plum Island.  What drives them south is not the cold temperatures, but rather food. 

Female snowy owls are white with dark brown bars on their feathers, giving them a salt-and-pepper appearance.  Male snowy owls are almost completely white, and they get whiter as they age.

Another example of Mother Nature's art gallery.  If we don't search for the beauty here on Earth, we may live and die without ever seeing or experiencing it.