The Snowy Owl… beautiful, powerful, mysterious and well loved (thanks to Harry Potter) but also, sadly, declining in numbers. So, what’s happening to our ‘Snowies’ out in the wild and what can we do to help them?
How do we know how species are faring?
The IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) established a Red List of Threatened Species back in 1964 with the aim of collecting accurate data on as many different species as possible to gain a better understanding of the planet’s biodiversity and which species or habitats need our help the most. This list has evolved to become ‘the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global extinction risk status of animal, fungus and plant species’ (IUCN, 2024).
In 2021 the IUCN conducted their most recent assessment of the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus) which agreed with their previous 2017 assessment that their global conservation status must remain changed from Least Concern to Vulnerable. This is not only sad news for the species but also for all of us who adore them! A smaller Snowy population is going to have an impact on the tundra ecosystem that they share with so many other species as natural food chains become unbalanced when you take away the top predators. Losing predators can also tell us a lot about the state of species lower down in the food chain so maybe this is our warning to pay attention to what is happening in our Arctic habitats.
Why are Snowy Owls so hard to study?
As well as being labelled as Vulnerable to Extinction the IUCN found that the Snowy Owl population trend is decreasing. Potentially even more worrying is the fact that more information is needed to fully understand how many Snowy Owls we have and that if research shows that their populations have decreased even more, they could be at risk of being put on the Endangered List.
But why is there such a knowledge gap with Snowy Owls when we have so much information on other bird species? Why are Snowies particularly difficult to study? Well, there are a few reasons that have led to some confusion over the years….
Firstly, Snowy Owls are migratory meaning they can travel huge distances over the sea and between different countries. For a long time, this gave the impression that there were many more Snowy Owls than there were and meant we seriously overestimated their population! It wasn’t until more recently that our technology developed and we managed to use GPS trackers on individual Snowies to track their movements over a whole year. This allowed us to see how far they travelled and that they spent different parts of the year in different places! Even though our technology has improved it is still very hard to keep track of a population that is constantly moving.
Secondly, Snowy Owls live in some of the harshest environments on the planet. They are built to survive -40°C and us humans just aren’t. Sitting out in snowstorms in Alaska isn’t always a conservationists first choice of project! This incredibly difficult weather and terrain combined with Snowies being one of the most aggressive owls on the planet (if you’ve met our Gimli, I know this will come as a huge shock!) can make them a difficult subject to study. In fact, a lot of the information we now have on Snowy Owls comes from the dedication of Denver Holt and his team at the Owl Research Institute studying Alaskan Snowies for over 30 years!
Why are Snowy Owls Vulnerable?
Whilst Snowy Owls are common in captivity and film and tv have made them very popular with the general public, it isn’t really common knowledge just how many threats they face out in the wild.
The IUCN list the Snowy Owl as Vulnerable as it is undergoing rapid population declines in North America and probably also in northern Europe and Russia. Drivers of the decline are uncertain, but it is likely that most of the threats they face are man-made. The declines are most notable in the northern US and Canada with Rosenberg et al. (2016) estimating a 64% decline here between 1970 and 2014. The idea that these numbers are still declining is very scary.
One of the leading causes of their population decline is thought to be climate change which affects the Snowies ability to find the prey they need. Warmer temperatures up in the Arctic lead to greater levels of rainfall, a change in the onset of spring and snowmelt in breeding areas. This all impacts their ability to hunt (e.g. in the winter they often hunt out on pack ice) and to feed their chicks (e.g. lemmings, their favoured prey, decline as rain freezes solid on the ground preventing the lemmings from reaching the grass to eat).
A particularly heart breaking threat that is becoming more and more common is collision with man made structures. In Canada, electrocution, aeroplane strikes, collision with vehicles and entanglement in fishing equipment have all been identified as sources of mortality (Holt et al., 2017) and it is likely that the habitat across their whole range (from Europe to Russia and America) is being degraded by urban developments destroying precious nesting sites.
Historically, Snowies were one of the most persecuted owls in North America – thousands of owls were shot for taxidermy, and adults and eggs were hunted for food, but this has, thankfully, significantly decreased in recent years (Holt et al. 2020). Other threats such as secondary poisoning from bait put down for rats and being caught in fox traps have become more of a problem in some areas.
Is there hope?
YES! We’re definitely not ending on a bad note! Slowing the effects of climate change is one of the most important things we can do to help Snowy Owls and all other Arctic wildlife that shares their space. Trying to reduce global warming by reducing our Co2 emissions and cutting down the amount of waste we produce will help keep the Arctic nice and chilly!
Many people in America and Canada are stepping up to fight against unlawful or unethical planning policies and land degradation to try and keep more of the planet wild for Snowies and all other wildlife. Maybe there are petitions you could sign, organisations you could lobby or a research organisation you could support? The Snowy Owl population is considered Stable in Europe at the moment which is great but there is a chance that this is just because we haven’t studied them nearly enough. There is a good chance that populations will start declining (if they haven’t already) right here on our doorstep; after all, they used to breed right here in the UK!
Just spreading the word about the threats our Snowies face and learning about what incredible creatures they really are is one of the best things you can do to help them and here at Feathers and Fur we truly believe that you cannot save something you don’t love and you cannot love something you don’t understand.
References and further reading
Audubon: Snowy Owl | Audubon Field Guide
The British Trust for Ornithology: Snowy Owl | BTO – British Trust for Ornithology
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Snowy Owl – Bubo scandiacus – Birds of the World
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Bubo scandiacus (Snowy Owl) (iucnredlist.org)
The Owl Research Institute: Snowy Owl I Owl Research Institute