Snowy owls nest on the tundra in the far north of the world. The tundra is open, treeless land. A snowy owl's favorite food is the lemming, a small mouselike animal. A snowy owl may eat about 1,600 lemmings in a year.

Snowy owls nest on the tundra mainly in years when lemmings are plentiful. Snowy owls are nomadic. That means they wander to wherever prey is plentiful rather than returning to one home. A snowy owl also lays more eggs in years when there is plenty of prey.

A snowy owl has excellent eyesight and hearing. A snowy owl often hunts by sitting still on a high spot and watching for food. Snowy owls often hunt in the daytime. Its hearing is sharp enough to find animals hiding under snow.

In winter, many snowy owls travel south to Canada and the northern United States. Some winters, many more snowy owls than usual move south out of the Arctic, and these big moves happen every few years. Scientists say snowy owl migration is not fully understood.

The snowy owls that travel farthest south tend to be the young ones. Some snowy owls spend weeks or months in winter on the frozen Great Lakes.

As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List, a global list of threatened species, lists the snowy owl as Vulnerable.

In winter, snowy owls live in open places such as prairies, farmland, beaches and airports. Snowy owls like wide open spaces such as tundra, grassland and frozen lakes.

Words to know

• tundra: treeless land
• nomadic: always wandering
• lemming: small mouselike animal
• prey: food animals