How Long Do Snowy Owls Live? (Snowy Owl Lifespan)

The beautiful Snowy Owl is beloved by bird lovers and the public alike. This truly large owl, adorned with bright white and light brown plumage, is one of the largest owls in the world. Snowy owls are found in most of the arctic, subarctic and tundra regions of Europe, Asia and North America. Here we will answer; How Long Do Snowy Owls Live?

Snowy owls live about 10 years in the wild, but many banded owls live 20 years or more. These great owls are vulnerable to food shortages in cold, isolated regions, but the survival rate of common birds is usually very high. For example, a study of 12 female owls on Bylot Island found year-over-year survival rates of about 85% to 92%.

Snowy owls are extremely adaptable — something they must have in order to survive in their cold habitats. Some snowy owls migrate south during the harsh arctic winter, but others remain within their breeding ranges year-round. Due to their sporadic migratory habits, snowy owls have appeared in some unfamiliar places, including Norfolk in the United Kingdom.

Many of you may already love snowy owls, thanks to Harry Potter’s pet snowy owl, Hedwig! However, there is still so much to learn about these beautiful and graceful owls!

In the wild, snowy owls live an average of about 10 years

What is the typical lifespan of a Snowy Owl?

Longevity data on snowy owls are lacking. However, some studies estimate that these owls lived about 10 years in the wild. That being said, many Banded Snowy Owls are 20 years old or older.

How long can snowy owls live in the wild?

Snowy owls live about 10 years in the wild, but many individuals have been recorded living longer. For example, one woman captured in Alberta, Canada, in 2013 was over the age of 20, while one tied up in Massachusetts was at least 23 years and 10 months old.

The lifespan of snowy owls is sensitive to local conditions, especially in winter. In good years, when voles and other prey are plentiful, adult worms have an almost 100 percent survival rate. Nesting success rates are also generally high, around 90% in one European study. About 40% to 80% of the birds survive to fledging.

Snowy owl in flight, looking for prey

How long can snowy owls live in captivity?

There are many anecdotes of snowy owls surviving about 20 to 30 years in captivity. A captive snowy owl captured in Switzerland lived to be around 28 years old. Another at the Owl Rehabilitation Foundation in Vinland, Ontario lived about 30 years, laying many eggs, before dying of West Nile virus.

How Do Most Snowy Owls Die?

Many snowy owls die as fledglings or young. About 40% to 80% of birds survive in nests before fledging, but not all survive to adulthood. Parasites, disease, starvation and predation threaten young birds. Black fly parasitism is a particular problem in Scandinavia.

Of the birds that do survive to adulthood, many die from a range of unnatural causes. In the Great Plains, about 81 percent of the 71 snowy owls died from various traumas, including gunshots and collisions. 14% died of starvation.

In British Columbia, shootings account for about 25 percent of all deaths. Of the 438 banded birds identified by the USGS Banding Laboratory, 150 (34.2%) died from unexplained causes and 52 (11.9%) were shot. The rest died from collisions, disease, starvation and other causes.

Sometimes, declining numbers of lemmings and voles can lead to higher hunger rates. However, starvation accounts for only a small percentage of snowy owl deaths, around 10 to 20 percent.

Juvenile Snowy Owls – most snowy owls die while in the nest or as juveniles

What is the life cycle of a snowy owl?

Snowy owls have a relatively slow life cycle. The female snowy owl incubates the eggs for about 32 to 36 days, and takes about 35 to 50 days for the eggs to hatch after hatching.

It will take a few more weeks for the owl to fly well. After fledging, the chicks stay with their parents for another 2 to 3.5 months before becoming independent and establishing their own territory. Snowy owls reach sexual maturity in about 1.5 to 2.5 years.

• Incubation time: 32 to 36 days
• fledgling: 35 to 50 days
• Sexual Maturity: 1.5 to 2.5 years
• life: 10 to 20 years

What are the snowy owl’s natural enemies?

Snowy owls encounter few predators in adulthood. However, the den is occasionally attacked by wolves and foxes.

Because snowy owls live in the arctic and tundra, large birds and mammals are rare. There have also been isolated cases of seagulls attacking snowy owl nests near the coastline.

snowy owl in flight

How big was the oldest snowy owl?

There are several cases of snowy owls living into their 20s in captivity. A captive snowy owl in Switzerland, for example, lived to be around 28 years old, but the oldest probably was a chick raised by the Owl Rehabilitation Foundation in Vinland, Ontario, which lived to be around 30 years old.

The owl laid many fertilized eggs until it died of West Nile virus.

How long can a snowy owl live without eating?

Snowy owls typically hunt and forage on a daily basis. When there is a surplus of food, they store the excess in their nests.

Caching 10 to 40 prey items is not uncommon, especially if there are a lot of lemmings. Snowy owls have been observed to voluntarily fast for 1 to 2 days, but they usually eat daily.

A snowy owl is on the ground in the early morning sunlight

Can snowy owls survive the winter?

Snowy owls are especially adapted to the cold, with their thick, downy feathers, feathered legs, toes, and compact, flattened heads.

Their legs and toes are also covered with feathers, and their feet have large, insulating pads. In high winds, snowy owls will hide behind trees or anywhere they can find.

Are snowy owls endangered?

According to the IUCN, the snowy owl is a Vulnerable species. Their numbers are dwindling, with an estimated 257,000 left in the wild.

Researchers aren’t sure whether snowy owl populations are fluctuating naturally, or whether warming in their Arctic habitat is changing their food availability and other behaviors.