The snowy owl was made Québec’s official bird in 1987. That was the year I asked my father to use his relationships with Robert Bourassa’s government members to convince the Legislative Assembly of Québec to adopt an avian emblem.

The Club des ornithologues du Québechad been campaigning for several years to have the snowy owl designated the official bird, and a gentle political push was needed to make that happen.

The snowy owl was the perfect candidate for the title. It nests in the open, treeless regions of Québec’s arctic tundra and comes south when the winter is too harsh and food too scarce in the north. This elegant bird, with its black-flecked white feathers, represents the whiteness of our winters and the vast lands that we inhabit.

Like all owls, the snowy owl flies silently. The feathers of its wings are covered with small fine barbs that reduce air friction and vibration. The front edge of its first quills are covered with soft, comb-shaped little barbs and its legs and feet are covered with feather. Thus equipped, the snowy owl can swoop down on its prey without being heard.

While lemmings constitute the major part of its diet, the snowy owl will also attack hares, ptarmigans and waterfowl.

The female lays five to eight eggs in a shallow depression in the ground and feeds its young for close to two months with the help of the male. Even though it nests far from urban centres, the snowy owl has seen its population reduced by 64 percent over the past 40 years.

Its status as an official emblem does not protect it from heavy metal pollution and from poaching, and even less so from the climate changes that affect its natural habitat.

Our official bird has a special place in the permanent exhibition at Animalium, Mont-Tremblant’s zoological museum.

By the same author: The river otter, sliding champion (Click the image below)