Snowy Owl

Artwork by Patrick J. Lynch

Snowy Owl. My illustration, done in Photoshop with a Wacom drawing tablet.

The Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) is an iconic winter visitor along the U.S. East Coast, arriving from Arctic breeding grounds as prey populations dwindle across the tundra. These irruption events can bring remarkable numbers to coastal beaches, airport grasslands, and open shorelines from Maine to the Carolinas. Large, heavily feathered, and strikingly white with variable dark barring, Snowy Owls command attention as some of the most visually arresting birds winter birders may encounter.

Unlike most owls, Snowy Owls hunt by day, perching like silent sentinels on dunes, fence posts, and rooftops while scanning for small mammals and shorebirds. Their Atlantic Coast appearance draws crowds, yet the birds seem indifferent to human presence, often sitting motionless for hours against a gray winter sky, sculpted forms of ice and snow.

From my book A Field Guide to The Mid-Atlantic Coast, Yale University Press.