Arctic Owl Relationships/Interactions
Snowy owls use the senses of touch, sight, and sound when interacting with other animals of the same species. Many times the male will try to “show off” and see superior in order to attract mates. The males often use certain calls when having to defend their territories. When on the subject of reproducing Snowy Owls are monogamous, so each female usually only mates with one male. Depending on how much food is available the male will be mated with by two different females. Breeding depends greatly on how much food is available. Snowy owls have adaptations to help them cope with extreme cold temperatures of their ecosystem. When food is scarce, snowy owls travel towards the south where the winter has warmer climates. Snowy owls live in the tundra where it never gets warmer than 45 - 50 degrees. Competitors of the Snowy Owl are Arctic Foxes primarily because they share the same diet. Different kinds of jaegers and gulls are also competitors because most times they take much of the lemmings, which is a primary food source for Snowy Owls. The most obvious predators for Snowy Owls are humans, but when it comes to animals are wild dogs, foxes, and jaegers. Snowy Owls are carnivores meaning they eat other animals. The amount of food they get obviously depends on what their environment contains, Snowy Owl’s eat lemmings as well as mice. Other food sources include rabbits, fish, and seabirds depending on how well the owl can catch them.