Hannon, Susan J.; Barry, Thomas W. (1986). "Demography, Breeding Biology and Predation of Willow Ptarmigan at Anderson River Delta, Northwest Territories". Arctic. 39 (4): 300–303. doi: 10.14430/arctic2091. JSTOR 40511025. a b c d Therrien, Jean-François; Gauthier, Gilles; Bêty, Joël (2011). "An avian terrestrial predator of the Arctic relies on the marine ecosystem during winter". Journal of Avian Biology. 42 (4): 363–369. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-048X.2011.05330.x. Pyle, P. (1998). "Flight-feather molt patterns and age in North American owls" (PDF). The Auk. 115 (2): 553. doi: 10.2307/4089230. JSTOR 4089230.

Both caribou and reindeer are well-suited for life in the Arctic. They have furry coats with two layers: a dense undercoat and longer, hollow guard hairs. Vision: Snowy owls have incredible vision. They can see from high up in the sky and swoop down silently to capture their prey. Like all owls they have good night vision. Martin, Graham R.; Gordon, Ian E. (1974). "Visual acuity in the tawny owl ( Strix aluco)". Vision Research. 14 (12): 1393–1397. doi: 10.1016/0042-6989(74)90014-5. PMID 4446369. Belterman, R. H. R.; De Boer, L. E. M. (1984). "A karyological study of 55 species of birds, including karyotypes of 39 species new to cytology". Genetica. 65: 39–82. doi: 10.1007/BF00056765. S2CID 37933718. Bedetti, C.; Palombo, M.R.; Sardella, R. (October 2001). "Last occurrences of large mammals and birds in the Late Quaternary of the Italian peninsula". 1st International Congress "The World of Elephants". Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche. pp.701–703. ISBN 978-88-8080-025-5.Young, C.M. (1973). "The Snowy Owl migration of 1971–72 in the Sudbury region of Ontario" (PDF). American Birds. 27 (1): 11–12. New Jersey’s snow typically starts in December, though a few Novembers stand out with their snowfall. Cracraft, J. (1981). "Toward a Phylogenetic Classification of the Recent Birds of the World (Class Aves)" (PDF). The Auk. 98 (4): 681–714. doi: 10.1093/auk/98.4.681 (inactive 1 August 2023). {{ cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2023 ( link)

Between 1967 [82] and 1975, snowy owls bred on the remote island of Fetlar in the Shetland Isles north of mainland Scotland, discovered by the Shetland RSPB warden, Bobby Tulloch. [83] Females summered as recently as 1993, but their status in the British Isles is now that of a rare winter visitor to Shetland, the Outer Hebrides and the Cairngorms. [84] [85] Older records show that the snowy owls may have once semi-regularly bred elsewhere in the Shetlands. [86] They range in northern Greenland (mostly Peary Land) and, rarely in "isolated parts of the highlands", Iceland. [6] [7] [5] Thence, they are found breeding at times across northern Eurasia such as in Spitsbergen and western and northern Scandinavia. In Norway, they normally breed in Troms og Finnmark and seldom down as far south as Hardangervidda and in Sweden perhaps down to the Scandinavian Mountains while breeding is very inconsistent in Finland. [7] [87]

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The EADS Harfang, drone aircraft developed by the French Air Force, is named in French for the snowy owl ( Harfang des neiges). Diet: They stay in the Arctic during the winter unless their food sources are scarce. If they leave the arctic in the winter they overwinter in northern Greenland, the Canadian islands, or North America. The diet of a snowy owl consists of a wide range of small to medium-sized animals, including mammals, birds and fish. Lemmings and other small rodents such as voles and mice make up the majority of the owl’s diet, particularly in the summer when these animals are most abundant. The snowy owl was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name Strix scandiaca. [14] The genus name Bubo is Latin for " horned owl" and scandiacus is Neo-Latin for "of Scandinavia". [15] The former generic name Nyctea is derived from Greek meaning "night". [5] Linnaeus originally described the different plumages of this owl as separate species, with the male specimens of snowy owls being considered Strix scandiaca and the likely females considered as Strix nyctea. [5] [16] Until recently, the snowy owl was regarded as the sole member of a distinct genus, as Nyctea scandiaca, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data shows that it is very closely related to the horned owls in the genus Bubo and the species is now thusly often considered inclusive with that genus. [17] [18] However, some authorities debate this classification, still preferring Nyctea. Often authorities are motivated to retain the separate genus on the grounds of osteological distinctions. [5] [19] The engraving Snowy Owl, Plate 121 of The Birds of America by John James Audubon. Male (top) and female (bottom). Poole, Earl L. (1938). "Weights and Wing Areas in North American Birds". The Auk. 55 (3): 511–517. doi: 10.2307/4078421. JSTOR 4078421.

It has an excellent sense of smell ( they can smell a dead seal from 20 miles away ), and they can bound across the snow at high speed. Polar bears are also great swimmers and they have been seen swimming up to 50 miles from the nearest land. The conservation status of the snowy owl is ‘Vulnerable’ ( source). There are an estimated 28,000 adult snowy owls in the wild, and the population is decreasing. Threats to the snowy owl include hunting, starvation, plane strikes, vehicle collisions, and climate change. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Parmelee, D. F. (1972). Canada's incredible arctic owls. Beaver no. summer:30–41.New Jersey’s fall weather brought snow several times, falling right on the Thanksgiving holiday. In 1898, this holiday came with 2.5 inches of snow, paired with temperatures below 50 degrees. The next time that New Jersey saw any snow of significance in November happened in 1912 with about an inch of snow in 37-degree weather. Wagner, Hermann; Weger, Matthias; Klaas, Michael; Schröder, Wolfgang (2017). "Features of owl wings that promote silent flight". Interface Focus. 7 (1): 20160078. doi: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0078. PMC 5206597. PMID 28163870. Boev, Z. (1998). "First fossil record of the Snowy Owl Nyctea scandiaca (Linnaeus, 1758) (Aves: Strigidae) from Bulgaria". Historia Naturalis Bulgarica. 9: 79–86. Parker, G. R. (1974). "A population peak and crash of lemmings and Snowy Owls on Southampton Island, Northwest Territories". Canadian Field-Naturalist. 88 (2): 151–156.