The snowy owl is easily identified by its white plumage, round earless head and broad white wings.
Color ranges from pure white to white barred with varying amounts of brown to black.
Juveniles and females are usually more heavily barred than adult males. Snowy owls migrate from the Arctic to Alberta and the other provinces in winter and return to the Arctic in summer. In the Arctic they prefer rolling hills to flat tundra, and use banks, knolls and boulders for lookouts. On their migration south they can often be found perched on fence posts, haystacks and buildings overlooking marshes and open farmland. During the Winters snowy owls are distributed throughout Alberta east of the Rockies.