Tundra’s StorySpecies: Snowy Owl, Nyctea scandiaca
Hatched: Unknown
Tundra came to us from a rehabilitation facility in upstate New York in 2005. She had suffered a wing injury due to a vehicle collision. Because of the severe damage she sustained, her wing had to be amputated. When we received her she also had severe foot problems, and received intensive treatment at our on-site rehab facility for almost a year to clear up the problem.
Tundra is currently on winter display in one of the large enclosures on the upper trail at the World Bird Sanctuary’s headquarters in Valley Park, MO. She is being housed with Ookpik, a handsome male Snowy Owl. They seem to be getting along well, and we hope that they will mate and produce young. Only time will tell. To see information on the natural history of Snowy Owls, please see below.
To adopt Tundra, simply click our donation button, make a donation of $100, and specify in your payment notes: Adopt-a-bird: TUNDRA. Also include your name, phone number, and mailing address so that we can send you your adoption materials!
Every donation helps to feed, house, and provide medical care for the bird of your choice! Adopt-A-Bird Parents Receive:
*A personal visit with the bird you adopt!!!!! Call 636-861-3225 to set up a time for
your personal visit.
* Certificate of Adoption
* Color photo of the bird you've adopted
* Sponsorship Card
* One year's subscription to Mews News (our quarterly newsletter)
* Life History and Natural History of the bird
* 10% Discount off WBS merchandise
* Invitation to Sponsors-only events like Camera Day
* Discounts on WBS Special Events
* WBS Decal
Natural History
Snowy Owl
Nyctea scandiaca
Description: large, diurnal, white owl with a rounded head; yellow eyes and black bill; feet heavily feathered; overall plumage variably barred or speckled with thin, black, horizontal bars or spots; adult males almost pure white; adult females distinctly barred throughout with four to six tail bands; juveniles uniformly brown with scattered white tips of down
Sex: females somewhat larger than males
Age: to 9.5 years in the wild; up to 35 years in captivity;
Length: 20-27”
Wingspan: 54-65''
Weight: 2.5 – 4.5 lbs.
Habitat: the Arctic tundra or open grasslands and fields; windswept tundra when wintering in the Arctic; agricultural areas at more southerly lattitudes
Status: locally abundant during good lemming years; rare at some locations during low lemming years
Range: Arctic regions of the old and new worlds; highly nomadic, depending on the lemming and vole population; cyclical appearance in southern Canada and northern U.S. approximately every 3-5 years coinciding with lemming population crashes
Behavior: courtship behavior includes aerial displays and ground displays, including feeding the female; nests almost exclusively on the ground; nests lined with vegetation and Owl feathers; breeding in May; 5 to as many as 14 eggs are laid, depending on lemming availability; female incubates; eggs hatch in 32-34 days; young leave the nest after 25 days; fledge at 50-60 days; both parents feed young
Diet: mostly lemmings and voles; opportunistic and known to take prey ranging in size from small mammals and birds up to and including snowshoe hares; adult owl may eat around 3-5 lemmings per day.
Vocalization: virtually silent during non-breeding season; during breeding the male has a loud booming “hoo, hoo”; females rarely hoot; the attack call is a gutteral “kruff-guh-guh-guk”; when excited it emits a loud “hooo-uh, hooo-uh, hooo-uh, wuh-whu-wuh”
√ A Snowy Owl family may eat up to 1500 lemmings during one nesting season.
√ Recent reports indicate these birds are being illegally killed for their eyes and feet, which are traded in Asian markets.
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