Triple snowy owls on old stump Vancouver,Canada
The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, white owl of the typical owl family. Snowy owls are native to Arctic regions in North America and Eurasia. Younger snowy owls start with darker plumage, which turns lighter as they get older. Males are almost all white, while females have more flecks of gray plumage. The snowy owl was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his Systema Naturae, where it was given the binomial name of Strix scandiaca. 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. However, some authorities debate this classification, still preferring Nyctea.
Size: 4534px × 3456px
Location: Boundary Bay, 72nd St Vancouver BC Canada
Photo credit: © Andrew(Chungho) Kim / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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