Snowy Owl (Strix Nyctea), Volume 2, Plate 121

Likely painted on the East Coast in 1829.

Audubon would have known that the Snowy Owl (the strongest and heaviest North American owl) hunts during the day and early evening. The dark background thus probably represents a stormy day near dusk, not a nightscape; it also helps him to highlight the contrast with the birds’ white plumage. While the larger female below has her eyes trained on the viewer, the male seems distracted by something that is happening to the right, outside the picture frame: a simple, but effective compositional trick that implicates the viewer in the scene and yet suggests that other events, unknown to us, are unfolding, too, and a subtle way of communicating the owl’s vigilance. Audubon’s essay contains a remarkable description of the skillful hunting techniques of a pair of owls he observed. Being Audubon, he cannot let owls be the superior hunter and asserts his dominance by killing both of them “with one shot.” In the plate, note the careful rendering of the owls’ padded feet, covered with feathers for better insulation.

From John James Audubon’s Ornithological Biography

Scarcely was there a winter which did not bring several of these hardy natives of the north to the Falls of the Ohio at Louisville. At the break of day, one morning, when I lay hidden in a pile of floated logs, at the Falls of the Ohio, waiting for a shot at some wild geese, I had an opportunity of seeing this Owl secure fish in the following manner:-While watching for their prey on the borders of the “pots,” they invariably lay flat on the rock, with the body placed lengthwise along the border of the hole, the head also laid down, but turned towards the water. One might have supposed the bird sound asleep, as it would remain in the same position until a good opportunity of securing a fish occurred, which I believe was never missed; for, as the latter unwittingly rose to the surface, near the edge, that instant the Owl thrust out the foot next the water, and, with the quickness of lightning, seized it, and drew it out. The Owl then removed to the distance of a few yards, devoured his prey, and returned to the same hole; or, if it had not perceived any more fish, flew only a few yards over the many pots there, marked a likely one, and alighted at a little distance from it. It then squatted, moved slowly towards the edge, and lay as before watching for an opportunity. Whenever a fish of any size was hooked, as I may say, the Owl struck the other foot also into it, and flew off with it to a considerable distance. In two instances of this kind, I saw the bird carry its prey across the Western or Indiana Shute, into the woods, as if to be quite out of harm’s way. I never heard it utter a single note on such occasions, even when two birds joined in the repast, which was frequently the case, when the fish that had been caught was of a large size. At sun-rise, or shortly after, the Owls flew to the woods, and I did not see them until the next morning, when, after witnessing the same feats, I watched an opportunity, and killed both at one shot.