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.
Typical female, Korkeasaari (Finland) 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). 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 color