Hello, I’m a male Snowy Owl and my name is Sneachta, that’s the Irish word for snow – clever hey! As I get older my densely layered feathers will gradually become almost completely white because I’m a boy, it’s female adults that have dark brown barring on their feathers – like Hedwig.

In December 2020, my species was listed as ‘vulnerable’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List as our population had decreased to just 28,000, a massive drop from 200,000 in 2013. This could be due to loss of habitat from climate change, and the fact that if prey is scarce, Snowy Owls won’t lay any eggs.