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Expedition 🇨🇦 Canada

Snowy Owl in Canada

The ghost of the Arctic — a white hunter of the tundra that drifts south in irruption years and hunts lemmings by daylight.

Snowy Owl

The species

The snowy owl is one of the largest and most striking owls on Earth: pure white with black flecks in males, more barred in females, and bright yellow eyes that scan the tundra for lemmings. Unlike most owls, it hunts primarily by day — a adaptation to the Arctic summer when the sun barely sets.

Habitat in Canada

Arctic tundra across Canada, Alaska, and Eurasia holds breeding snowy owls. In winter they move south to open country — airports, farmland, and coastlines — following lemming cycles and food availability.

Where to spot one

  • Churchill, Manitoba

    Hudson Bay Coast

    The polar bear capital of the world — bears gather on the tundra each autumn waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze.

  • Banff & Jasper National Parks

    Alberta

    Rocky Mountain wilderness — elk, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, and turquoise lakes beneath glacier peaks.

  • Algonquin Provincial Park

    Ontario

    Classic Canadian Shield country — moose in misty lakes at dawn, loons on the water, wolves howling at night.

  • Great Bear Rainforest

    British Columbia

    Temperate rainforest coast — grizzlies fishing salmon, humpback whales offshore, and the rare white spirit bear.

Conservation status

VU — Vulnerable

Snowy owls are Vulnerable, with populations linked to unpredictable lemming cycles and climate change affecting Arctic habitat. They face disturbance from increasing tourism and vehicle collisions.

Keep exploring

Keep exploring

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