4962 x 4872 px | 42 x 41,2 cm | 16,5 x 16,2 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
marzo 2002
Ubicazione:
Inverness-shire Scotland Highland Region Scotland UK
Altre informazioni:
The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large owl of the typical owl family Strigidae. The Snowy Owl was first classified in 1758 by Carolus Linnaeus, the Swedish naturalist who developed binomial nomenclature to classify and organize plants and animals. The bird is also known in North America as the Arctic Owl or the Great White Owl. Until recently, it was regarded as the sole member of a distinct genus, as Nyctea scandiaca, but mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data (Olsen et al. 2002) shows that it is very closely related to the horned owls in the genus Bubo. The Snowy Owl is the official bird of Quebec. This yellow-eyed, black billed white bird is easily recognizable. It is 53-65 cm (20-26 inches) long with a 125-150 cm (50-60 in) wingspan. Also, these birds can weigh anywhere from 1.8-3 kg (3.5-6.6 lbs).[2] The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; the young are heavily barred, and dark spotting may even be predominate. Its thick plumage, heavily-feathered feet, and coloration render the Snowy Owl well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle. This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other rodents for food, but at times of low prey density, or during the ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to juvenile ptarmigan. As opportunistic hunters, they feed on a wide variety of small mammals and birds such as meadow voles and deer mice, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Some of the larger mammal prey includes mice, hares, muskrats, marmots, squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs, rats, moles, and entrapped furbearers. Birds include ptarmigan, ducks, geese, shorebirds, ring-necked pheasants, grouse, American coots, grebes, gulls, songbirds, and short-eared owls. GBI 1022
