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Discover Nature: Snowy Owls

Terri Nickerson

This week on Discover Nature, watch for a rare, snow-white visitor to our state.

The snowy owl only occasionally visits Missouri, general in the winter of years when food runs low in its arctic range.

Snowy owls are large: up to two feet from bill to tail, with a five-foot wingspan. Adorned with ample white feathers, yellow eyes, and a round head, younger owls may also have extensive black barring on their body.

In their arctic habitat, they feed mainly on lemmings.  When prey populations crash some of these owls head south in search of food.

In Missouri, they hunt rabbits, squirrels, mink, muskrats, waterfowl, and other birds and rodents. Watch for these hungry visitors, most active during daylight hours, sitting patiently on fence posts, hay bales, or on the ground. 

Because these tundra dwellers are not used to the dangers of power-lines, people, and cars, it’s best not to approach them, and slow down if you happen to see one while driving.

Learn more about snowy owls and where to see them with the Missouri Department of Conservation’s online field guide.

Discover Nature is sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Trevor serves as KBIA’s weekday morning host for classical music. He has been involved with local radio since 1990, when he began volunteering as a music and news programmer at KOPN, Columbia's community radio station. Before joining KBIA, Trevor studied social work at Mizzou and earned a masters degree in geography at the University of Alabama. He has worked in community development and in urban and bicycle/pedestrian planning, and recently served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zambia with his wife, Lisa Groshong. An avid bicycle commuter and jazz fan, Trevor has cycled as far as Colorado and pawed through record bins in three continents.
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