Snowy Owl by mrestey

Photography • Animals • posted on Mar 12, 2010

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Description

PLEASE ZOOM - You have to see those feet LOL Probably you ALL will recognize this guy. This is a snowy owl. Raddar asked where I shot these pictures. Well, a few years ago my wife and I went to an owl show where a handler was presenting a very informative presentation about owls to help educate the general public about these wondrous birds of the night. As I recall they ALL were in captivity ONLY because they were not able to be put back into the wild for one reason or another - usually an injury of some sort. The owls were all kept in their own wooden travel boxes with perches. These boxes were made to keep the birds in the dark (they ARE night birds after all) and sedate until it was time to be shown. It was rather exciting when she got to this fellow. First she warned us all saying, "this guy is pretty high strung and he's going to explode out of his box when I open it. So be prepared." Sure enough, when she carefully opened the door this beautiful white owl burst forth all in a flutter. But he settled down quickly once he was perched on her arm. NOW for some snowy owl facts: Size: Length 51-68.5 cm (20-27") average female 66cm (26" inches), male 59cm (23") Wingspan 137-164cm (54-65") Weight 1134-2000g (40-70oz) average female 1707g (60oz), male 1612g (57oz) Habits: Snowy Owls are active during the daytime, from dawn to dusk. They have a direct, strong, and steady flight with deliberate, powerful down-strokes and quick upstrokes. They make short flights, close to the ground, from perch to perch, and usually perches on the ground or a low post. During hot weather, they can thermo-regulate by panting and spreading their wings. Snowy Owls are very aggressive when defending their nest. Voice: The Snowy Owl is virtually silent during non-breeding seasons. The typical call of the male is a loud, harsh, grating bark, while the female has a similar higher pitched call. During the breeding season males have a loud, booming "hoo, hoo" given as a territorial advertisement or mating call. Females rarely hoot. Its attack call is a guttural "krufff-guh-guh-guk". When excited it may emit a loud "hooo-uh, hooo-uh, hooo-uh, wuh-wuh-wuh". Other sounds are dog-like barks, rattling cackles, shrieks, hissing, and bill-snapping. Nestlings "cheep" up to 2 weeks of age, then hiss and squeal.

Comments (18)

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adrie

5:26PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

Wow what a gorgeous capture of this beautiful snow owl, wonderful capture my friend, love it.

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Erestorfan

5:27PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

Ah, I remember this owl...spectacular! but the woman was SO right...he just exploded out of his box!! He was very, very high strung...but settled down eventually. I kept thinking that I would LOVE to touch those fuzzy feet!! Nice captures hon!!! Gorgeous bird!

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Digital_Mischief

5:28PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

Oh, beautiful. Owls are wonderful - sad when they can't be released to live their natural life.

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Richardphotos

5:40PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

beautiful shots.they are not native to North Texas but years ago I seen one flying around in Mesquite,Texas.if it belonged to someone, I do not know.I know it is against the law to gave one unless this situation

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1010

5:45PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

Beautiful, just beautiful. An awesome owl.

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bazza

5:59PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

What a beautiful owl his feet so look amazing and those claws look like they could inflict some serious damage.. well done!

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RodS

6:05PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

What a beautiful owl! Yep - looks like Harry's owl... These are such amazing birds, and this one's a real beauty. Great photos! Those feet do look so soft and fluffy, but there's a reason that handler is wearing thick gloves. There's a pair of powerful talons under thoes bell-bottoms :-D Thanks for sharing these wonderful photos and facts about these magnificent creatures!

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Raddar

7:38PM | Fri, 12 March 2010

That has got to be one of the most majestic things I have ever seen. I can't even imagine what it was like to see it in real life. The white is so pure, man that is one beautiful creature. Great shot buddy.

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