Up on the roof
Snowy owl, Rondeau Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada, Dec 23, 2020.
Fellow birders let me know this owl was just down the road from me. Also let me know where a screech owl was.
Nice to have birding friends.
Bubo scandiacus
Male Snowy Owls are barred with dark brown when they’re young and get whiter as they get older. Females keep some dark markings throughout their lives. Although the darkest males and the palest females are nearly alike in color, the whitest birds—including the ones that played Harry Potter’s Hedwig—are always males and the most heavily barred ones are always females.
The oldest-known Snowy Owl was a female, and at least 23 years, 10 months old when she was recaptured in 2015 during banding operations in Montana. She had been banded in Massachusetts in 1992.
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