Snowy Owls

Snowy Owls


Names
Common Name:	Snowy Owls
Scientific Name:	Bubo scandiacus or Nyctea scandiacus
Appearance
thick white and black plumage, heavily feathered taloned feet Males: Pure White Female: Scalloped
Behavior
They are opportunistic hunters and prey species may vary considerably, especially in winter

Snowy Owls (Bubo scandiacus) are a species of owl that belong to the family Strigidae. They are sometimes called the Polar Owl or Arctic Owl.

Information[]

Description[]

This yellow-eyed, black-billed white bird is easily recognizable. It is 52–71 centimeters (20–28 in.) long with a 125–150 centimeter (49–59 in.) wingspan. Also, these birds can weigh anywhere from 1.6–3 kilograms (3.5–6.6 lb.). Females are larger than the males. It is one of the largest species of owl and is on average the heaviest owl species in North America. The adult male is virtually pure white, but females and young birds have some dark scalloping; the young are heavily barred, and dark spotting may even predominate. Its thick plumage, heavily-feathered taloned feet, and coloration render the Snowy Owl well-adapted for life north of the Arctic Circle.

Snowy Owl calls are varied, but the alarm call is a barking, almost quacking krek-krek; the female also has a softer mewling pyee-pyee or prek-prek. The song is a deep repeated gawh. They may also clap their beak in response to threats or annoyances. While called clapping, it is believed this sound may actually be a clicking of the tongue, not the beak.

Ecology[]

The Snowy Owl is a bird of Arctic tundra or open grasslands and fields.

The Snowy Owl is typically found in the northern circumpolar region, where it makes its summer home north of latitude 60 degrees north. However, it is a particularly nomadic bird, and because population fluctuations in its prey species can force it to relocate, it has been known to breed at more southerly latitudes. During the last glacial, there was a Central Europe subspecies Bubo scandiacus gallicus, but no modern subspecies are recognized.

This species of owl nests on the ground, building a scrape on top of a mound or boulder. A site with good visibility, ready access to hunting areas, and a lack of snow is chosen. Gravel bars and abandoned eagle nests may be used, and sometimes even on buildings.

In series, they are usually found in the Northern Kingdoms.

Hunting and Diet[]

They are "sit and wait" predators that are highly diurnal, but will also hunt at night. Prey may be captured on the ground, in the air, or fish may be snatched off the surface of bodies of water using their sharp talons.

This powerful bird relies primarily on lemmings and other small rodents for food during the breeding season, but at times of low prey density, or during the ptarmigan nesting period, they may switch to juvenile ptarmigan. They are opportunistic hunters and prey species may vary considerably, especially in winter. They feed on a wide variety of small mammals such as meadow voles and deer mice, but will take advantage of larger prey, frequently following traplines to find food. Some of the larger mammal prey includes hares, muskrats, marmots, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, prairie dogs, rats, moles, and entrapped furbearers. Birds preyed upon include ptarmigan, ducks, geese, shorebirds, ring-necked pheasants, grouse, American coots, grebes, gulls, songbirds, and even other raptors, including other owl species. Snowy Owls are also known to eat fish and carrion. Each bird must capture roughly 7 to 12 mice per day to meet its food requirement and can eat more than 1,600 lemmings per year. They also compete directly for lemmings and other prey with several predators, including rough-legged hawks, golden eagles, peregrine falcons, gyrfalcons, jaegers, glaucous gulls, Short-eared Owls, Great Horned Owls, common ravens, wolves, arctic foxes, and ermine. Some species nesting near Snowy Owl nests, such as the snow goose, seem to benefit from the protection of Snowy Owls that drive competing predators out of the area.

Snowy Owls, like many other birds, swallow their small prey whole. Strong stomach juices digest the flesh, while the indigestible bones, teeth, fur, and feathers are compacted into oval pellets that the bird regurgitates 18 to 24 hours after feeding. Regurgitation often takes place at regular perches, where dozens of pellets may be found. Biologists frequently examine these pellets to determine the quantity and types of prey the birds have eaten. When large prey are eaten in small pieces, pellets will not be produced.

Reproduction[]

Breeding occurs in May, and depending on the amount of prey available, clutch sizes range from 5 to 14 eggs, which are laid singly, approximately every other day over the course of several days. Hatching takes place approximately five weeks after laying, and the pure white young are cared for by both parents. Both the male and the female defend the nest and their young from predators. Some individuals stay on the breeding grounds while others migrate.

Though Snowy Owls have few predators, the adults are very watchful and are equipped to defend against any kind of threat towards them or their offspring. During the nesting season, the owls regularly defend their nests against arctic foxes, corvids and swift-flying jaegers; as well as dogs, gray wolves and other avian predators. Males defend the nest by standing guard nearby while the female incubates the eggs and broods the young. Both sexes attack approaching predators, dive-bombing them and engaging in distraction displays to draw the predator away from a nest.

They can live 9.5 years in the wild, and 35 years in captivity.

Significant Snowy Owls[]

History[]

The Capture[]

At St. Aggie's Soren meets his pit guardian, a sickeningly sweet owl named Finny, who, claiming to have been an elderly broody, insists on being called Auntie and treats him with a certain degree of favoritism. While she's nice to him and Soren regards her as probably the best adult he knew in St. Aegolius, he has his suspicions and though he agrees to her demand to be called Auntie, he secretly wonders at one point is, behind her feathers, Finny was one of the hags of old mentioned in the legends. Such thinking is proven correct to a point much later when Finny goes berserk attempting to kill Hortense.

The Journey[]

While attempting to fly to the Island of Hoole, the Band are welcomed by Boron and Barran, the king and queen of the Tree.

Soren gets to hear Madame Plonk singing, and later asks her if Mrs. Plithiver can join the harp guild.

The Rescue[]

Searching for information of the disappearance of Ezylryb, the Band sneak out to meet the Rogue Smith of Silverveil. After a tense first meeting, what with her spouting off curses, and noting that she's a very black Snowy, Gylfie says the Smith is as lovely as Madame Plonk. The Rogue Smith admits that Madame Plonk, even calling her by her first name Brunwella, is indeed her sister. She invites them to her forge and tells them what she knows about Metal Beak and Ezylryb, revealing some of her history as a Kielian League fighter that had fought alongside Ezylryb, who she warned the Band had a great array of enemies from his military days.

When telling the Band about Ezylryb's past, Octavia mentions the King of the Ice Talons was a brutal old Snowy who wanted to rule the Northern Kingdoms.

The Siege[]

Boron and Barran give the Chaw of Chaws an assignment to infiltrate St. Aggie's, which a report from Mist had revealed to have been already infiltrated by Kludd's spies as part of a plan of conquer the Canyonlands. The two owls express their understanding for how difficult it would be for Soren and Gylfie to return to their place of torment but reassure Soren of his worries of being recognized by pointing out the St. Aegolius owls' profound stupidity. They also show certain levels of apprehension when Ezylryb voiced his agreement towards Otulissa's outrage at Dewlap declaring Fleckasia and Other Disorders of the Gizzard spronk.

During her and the other Chaw of Chaw members education on the subjects of the Northern Kingdoms, which the friends were to claim to have fled from, Otulissa proved an excellent student and among her studies, she memories lines from the Yigdaldish Ga’far, a narrative poem chronicling the quests of Proudfoot, a Great Snowy Owl, and their Eagle Owl companion, Hot Beak. Among their adventures, Otulissa also read of kraals, the pirate owls of the Northern Kingdoms, which Proudfoot encountered during their travels.

On the flight to the Canyons, Soren expresses his dread over a possible encounter with Finny. This nightmare would prove to be true when, once at St. Aggie's, Soren meets a promoted Finny again, except now one of her eyes was cloudy and wept tears, she had a jagged black scar that ran down her face and across her beak, an odd smell, and a large gash around her throat. By this time, Finny has begun suffering what shows the sights of mental depression and illness, possibly sparked by the desertion of Soren, whom Finny initially displayed a certain degree of affection towards. Despite being unwell in the head at least, Finny retained her kind facade towards Soren and Martin, the former of whom she did not recognize as 12-1, calling them sweeties and in turn insisting she be called Auntie, as well as serving as a supervisor to the eggorium, which Soren and Martin worked in briefly before Finny promoted them to the position of moss tenders in the hatchery. Ruby, another infiltrator for the Ga'hoole Tree, who had gained a position in the hatchery, later informs Soren that Finny eats eggs and "imperfect" hatchlings, revealing that she had seen the old Snowy perform acts of cannibalism.

Elsewhere, in Silverviel, the Rogue Smith of Silverveil is forced to make Metal Beak a new mask forged from the finest mu metal after being roughed up by Wortmore. Fearful and visibly shaken, the Rogue Smith, prompted by a feeling that her customer was an owl who's actions could have grave repercussions on the owl world, tempts Kludd with a new, lighter versions battle claws that she claimed she would be more than happy to sell to the High Tyto on trial basis. Though visibly horrified at the thought of again being in close proximity to Wortmore for a fitting, the Smith remains determined to see if she can discover Kludd's plans and subtly trickd information out of Wortmore about the upcoming siege. Afterwards, she promptly gathers a few things and flees to Ambala to pass the warning on the Great Tree through Mist, vowing she would never create weapons for the Pure Ones.

After discovering thanks to Otulissa that a small group of the slipgizzles in St. Aggie's belonging to the Pure Ones have become turnfeathers and joined Skench, Soren, Otulissa and their friends plot to escape with the information they had gathered, planning to reveal the traitors to Kludd's fanatics, who they knew would instantly slaughter Uklah and her allies, while the Chaw of Chaw escaped. A fight to breaks out between the St. Aggie's owls and the Pure Ones spies after Ruby and Twilight, as planned, expose a turnfeather to the loyal Pure Ones, one of whom instantly kills the traitor, and in the chaos Finny attacks Soren, believing his to be in on the coup. After she's dazed by Twilight, she recognizes Gylfie and realizes the Barn Owl was her former pit owlet, but Soren opens the scar of her throat wound with a rake of his talons, killing Finny.

During the siege, Boron and Barran were part of the war cabinet which they assign Ezylryb to lead, with Barran leading a unit called Barran's Elite Talons.

The Shattering[]

Coming soon!

The Burning[]

Barran intones the ceremonial words that welcomed the Band into the ranks of the Guardians when they take the vows of the owls of the Great Tree, swearing to use their skills only to make strong the weak, right all wrongs, mend the broken and make powerless those who abused the frail.

A large portion of the Northern Kingdoms owl population are made up of Snowy Owl, as Otulissa mentioned to Gylfie in the wake of their departure from the Glauxian Sisters' Retreat, where Dewlap had been left to heal in body and mind. Otulissa also states that, though not all the Sisters belong to the species, burrows such as those used by Snowy Owls are a typical place of residence in areas such as Elsemere Island, where the Retreat was located, due to its lacking much in the form of trees. The Glauxian Brothers, however, are an exception to this rule, having their own retreat situated in a grove of fir trees on an island within the Bitter Sea. Despite this differing so greatly to their natural habitat, the Brothers included several Snowies (both male and female) and when they arrived on the island, the first members of the brotherhood that Gylfie and Otulissa encountered were half a dozen Snowy Owl sentries. Later on, a Snowy Owl Brother gently reprimands Otulissa for her sudden outburst during the meditation flight, claiming they could not have such on a flight that was supposed to be silent and reflective.

Meanwhile, Soren, Twilight, Digger and Eglantine were sent to find Ezylryb's childhood friend, Moss, the leader of the Kielian League, and try convincing him to speak in their favour to the ruling council about sending troops to join the Guardians in their invasion of the Canyonlands. Led to the old Snowy by Svall, Moss was revealed to have taken a mate by the name of Snorri, who was thee local skog, or storyteller (a position typically taken by Snowies). Moss had Soren come forward so that he could see the two sealed documents Ezylryb written for him and upon reading them, Moss had the Chaw of Chaws practice with ice swords so as to teach them to their fellow Guardians. However, he warned that the request for the Glauxspeed Division and the Frost Beaks will have to be approved by the parliament and that the Northern Kingdom would be hard to convince to send owls into another war after countless centuries of fighting in the War of the Ice Claws. While training, Digger learnt from several Snowy ice harvesters how to split shards of ice to create weapons from them. The group also meet Orf while there when he helped train them.

Back at the retreat, Gragg contemplates how, in the wake of their defeat, the Ice Talons had turned on him and Ifghar and Jesper, their leader, had cast them out for their treachery of the Kielian League, his last scathing words to the brother of Lyze and snake of Slonk being "you know what we do with turnfeathers and turnscales, don’t ye? We turn them out!".

Many kraal bands are headed by Snowies due to their size and one such band leader was recruited by Ifghar and Grank to attack and capture one of the Chaw of Chaws, a raid which they were able to successfully commit, despite suffering several loses. After presenting Gylfie to Ifghar, the Snowy-in-chief spoke to the Elf Owl, threatening to leave her out for the wolves unless she willingly gave the whiskerless Screech Owl the information he sought. When Gylfie refused to fall prey to Ifghar's lies, the pirate owls again imprisoned her, after which the Snowy Owl leader presumably departed to participate in the raid that left the Hrath'ghar Glacier virtually abandoned. The only exceptions to this raid (apart from Gylfie and Flinn) are two idiotic Snowy thugs - Vlink and Phlinx - who are left to stand guard over Gylfie, a job they complain about. Twilla, however, arrives painted completely gold, tricking Phlinx and Vlink into thinking she is Glaux here to make them her chosen ones. She sends the two Snowies on a wild goose chase for the Golden Sedge Berries while she secretly escapes with Gylfie.

When Soren and the Chaw returned and explained Gylfie's absence to the Parliament, they found, to their horror and disgust, Skench and Spoorn dining with the leaders of the Tree, Barran and Boron among them. The Ablah General, her first lieutenant and a small group of their henchmen who had escaped Kludd's invasion of the Canyonlands had made an alliance with the Guardians, who had been left with no choice other than accept, knowing how their enemies' ranks were swelling by the day with hireclaws and young and idealistic Tytos taken in by Kludd's dark charisma and manipulations. As plans for the invasion go ahead, despite the absence of Northern owls, Soren and (apart from Gylfie) his best friends (Otulissa, Twilight and Digger) listen in on a Parliament meeting that includes Boron and Barran, wherein which the Ga'hoolian leaders discuss their strategized operations do to make up for the Pure Ones superiority in numbers.

Gylfie, however, with the aid of Twilla, escaped and returned to the Kielian League, where she was able to convince Moss and the elders to send their armies to join the Guardians in the Canyonlands, which turns the tides of battle at a crucial time. Despite their victory, the Guardians suffered many losses, among them Bruce, a Snowy friend of Bubo's and veteran of the Flame Squadron who was the last of the casualties the Ga'hoole Tree suffered during the war. Bruce's body was born away by Bubo, who vowed that his body would not provide a feast for the ravenous vultures. Cleve, who also accompanies the Glauxspeed Division, was boasted by a Snowy to be one of their best sky medics.

The Hatchling[]

Coming soon!

The Outcast[]

Coming soon!

The First Collier[]

Arrin, the vain Snowy Owl lord of a powerful firth rich both in fresh issen blaue ice and skillful soldiers of the Great Snowy Owl breed, hosts an annual lemming hunt attended by King H'rath, Queen Siv and several other important owls, including Grank, who had recently been immersed in his studies within Beyond the Beyond, but came due to his friend's need for Arrin's support, which they allegedly get, securing ice harvesting rights in Arrin's fiefdom during the summer months. However, only weeks later, hagsfiends, who's insurgences Arrin had claimed to have been responsible for suppressing, attacked H'rooth's harvesters while Arrin reveals himself a traitor to the crown as his secretly-amassed armies of followers, hagsfiends and hireclaws invade H'rath's kingdom under the command of Lord Pleek's knights. Arrin finally succeeds in cornering and slaying the king with the aid of Penryck, but at the cost of his own beloved son's life, which Arrin blamed vengefully on the Royal Family, hunting for Siv and her egg for both the power and sense of revenge.

Siv, however, fortunately escapes with her faithful servant, Myrrthe, and the two attempted to find sanctuary at the retreat of the Glauxian Sisters, only to find that they had been placed under the hagsfiends' Nacht Ga' after Myrrthe goes ahead to ensure her mistress's safety. Knowing that they would be in inevitable danger to remain on the island of Elsemere, the Spotted Owl queen and her Snowy governess went into hiding in the Ice Cliff Palace.

After discovering what had happened to the Glauxian Sisters, Grank, knowing that only a wound delivered by a splinter made of issen blaue ice could free them, recalled his and his friends battle training at the Ice Dagger, which had been under the tutorship of King H'rathmore's master-in-arms, the Snowy Proudfoot. In the wake of his successful liberation of the Sisters' from the crowls control and a talk with Rorkna, Siv's cousin, Grank remembers the Palace and heads there, where he meets with Myrrthe and Siv, who relinquishes possession of her egg to Grank to protect her heir, then all three escape the palace as Arrin's hagsfiends attack. Myrrthe escapes the ambush and supports her mistress, who's port wing had been near severed, to an iceberg where they found refuge. While fishings for Siv, Myrrthe met and befriended Svenka, a polar bear and soon to be mother, who she engages in several philosophical conversations with. Tragically, however, on a moon-bleached night, Myrrthe, while hunting for lemmings, came face to face with and was attacked by hagsfiends, who, before the horrified eyes of Svenka, tore her apart and her head speared atop the scythe of a hagsfiend, who flew screeching with it into the night.

Meanwhile, Arrin had been growing his empire further across the Hrath'ghar Glacier, his forces strengthened by young owls pressed into service by scouts. However, his hunger for revenge was unsatisfied until, thanks to the efforts of Ygryk (a hagsfiend who was the loving mate of Arrin's ally, Pleek), Arrin discovered Siv's hiding place and, accompanied by Pleek and (presumably) Ygryk. Coming in for landing, Arrin engaged in a brief attempt for small talk with Siv, then came to the point as he inquired to the status of Siv's egg, as well as proposing a wingfast union between himself and Siv. The aghast Siv, however, gives no answer, turning her back on the lord and Arrin, slightly fearful of the seawater of the firth after becoming a little haggish in appearance, the tips of his flight feathers having become ragged and dark as a result of consorting with hagsfiends, decided to return when the water would be frozen and makes his retreat.

Grank, meanwhile, in hiding with the egg in the Bitter Sea, beholds through the power of firesight his apprentice Theo confronted, in a complete show of defiance towards the H'rathian Code, over the Bitter Sea by an armed-to-the-beak Snowy who is none other than Elgobad, a warlord and cousin of Arrin's who has joined him in his rebellion. Despite the Bitter Sea being a war-free zone, Elgobad arrogantly demanded Theo's name and intended destination, only to wilf with shame as Theo's tricks him into giving up his own name. Joined by a knight of Arrin's, Elgobad attacked Thoe and pursued the young Horned Owl with the knight until Theo doubled back and unexpectedly slew the Great Horned knight with a strange weapon Elgobad had never seen before. Going yeep with fright at the sight, Elgobad only just escaped, fleeing for his life.

On the night of the eclipse, Arrin and a collection of his hagsfiends, including Penryck, sweep over the frozen sea in a raid on the iceberg, where they engage in battle with Siv, who observes how Arrin's now ragged flight feathers chopped the air. Eventually, the hagsfiends bring down Siv on the ice of the firthkin, but still, she remains valiant and defies Arrin, furiously denying his offer to become his Queen of the Nachtmagen. Arrin then asks the same question he asked one his first visit, but still, he receives no answer.

The Coming of Hoole[]

Surrounded by Penryck and his other hagsfiends, Arrin continues to inquire to the presence of Siv's egg and once again offers her a place by his side as ruler of the realm of Nachtmagen, only to again be rejected. But unbeknownst to Arrin or his troops or any of the hagsfiends they had aligned themselves with, Siv's egg was hatching just as Arrin interrogated its mother. The darkness brought on by the eclipse, however, comes to an end when Svenka suddenly appeared and spirited Siv away, killing several of the crowls, though Arrin managed to escape the encounter without sustaining mortal wounds.

Coming soon!

To Be a King[]

Coming soon!

The Golden Tree[]

Coming soon!

The River of Wind[]

Coming soon!

Exile[]

Coming soon!

The War of the Ember[]

Coming soon!

A Guide Book to the Great Tree[]

Coming soon!

Lost Tales of Ga'Hoole[]

The Snowy Sisters[]

Thora Plonk, as the Rogue Smith of Silverveil once was known as, flees her hollow after her father, Berrick, takes Rodmilla, a Snowy Owl of semi-noble ancestry, for how greatly she differed from his previous mate - Thora's mother - Thea, who had perished in the constant fighting between Kielian League owls and Ice Talons. Though she instantly takes a liking to Thora's younger sister, Brunwella, Rodmilla answers Thora's defiant attitude with cruel abuse, leaving Thora feeling like an outcast in her own home until she fled the Firth of Canis, met Lyze, Moss and Octavia and begun the path to being a smith, during which she believed she caught sight of her father watching over her several times. A year or so after this flight from her home, Thora made the decision to return, prompted by a rumour concerning her family, which put Brunwella and Berrick in possible danger. When Thora returned, she tried her best to make peace with Rodmilla but, despite the warm response Rodmilla gave, remained alert for any sign of the dark rumour she had heard. Thora, however, continued to retain contact with Sigfried, a Snowy Owl with whom she shared a close "friendship" with and who sympathized with a rebellion formed against the forces of the Ice Talons.

Meanwhile, Brunwella's thoughts turned to her father who had been away from the hollow for several days but she would not be allowed to dwell on those thoughts. Rodmilla told Brunwella that Malvonia Plonk, the current singer at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, had died mysteriously, despite her young age. Rodmilla was determined to find Thora and tell her the news which seemed odd to Brunwella because she was the better singer of the two sisters. Also, the family would be receiving a special visitor by the name of Marquis Henryk VI, one of a prestigious clan known for its ties to Bylyric and its ancestry, which traced directly back to the court of H'rath, despite Brunwella showing certain distain for the family which was born from their reputation as "snow snobs" (Snowies that only interacted with their own kind). The suspicion held by the two sisters further increased when Rodmilla told Thora to practice for the auditions that would determine who the next singer would be. For Brunwella, she planned to marry her off to Henryk. This proved to be shocking since tradition dictated that the singer of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree could not have a mate before their audition, though such a law does not forbid the chosen singer from taking a consort later in life, as Brunwella's wingfast to Doc Finebeak proved. Unfortunately, Henryk VI, his father, Henryk V and his mate, Henryk VI's mother Gertrude arrived and are answered by Rodmilla's fawning welcomes, and shortly after the visit, the young Henryk sends a surprisingly eloquently phrased letter in which he extended a proposal to Brunwella. Both sisters were infuriated by their current standings, but Thora suggested that they switch places at the auditions and after those they would go to Dark Fowl Island. There they would met their father, who Thora revealed to Brunwella to be a part of the Resistance, a group that fought against the League of Ice Talons and consisted of the recently recruited Sigfried.

On the night of the tryouts, Thora listened as Brunwella sung with great beauty which would later ensure her place as singer at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. On the way to Dark Fowl they met a member of the Resistance named Torsten. The two sisters found out that a raid for supplies on the Ice Talons' headquarters had gone wrong and that Sigfried, had been grievously wounded. Now, Thora would check on Sig and Brunwella would accompany Torsten to find Berrick. From Sig, Thora found out that the rumour she heard was true: Rodmilla, her stepmother, was a slipgizzle for the League of Ice Talons. Back at the Firth of Canis, Brunwella found her home ransacked from top to bottom. However, they did find Berrick who told Torsten to return to their hideout south of the Ice Fangs and to tell them that their location had been compromised.

Later, Rodmilla came to the hideout with a trio of young Ice Talons recruits who all posed as aspiring owls wishing to join the Resistance. However, their plan fell apart and a battle ensued. Sigfried sacrificed himself to save Thora and was killed by an Ice Talon guard and Rodmilla. Despite the losses, Thora managed to kill her own stepmother and the Ice Talons guards were defeated and slain when Resistance reinforcements swarmed into.

The next night, the bodies of Berrick and Sigfried were burned and the two sisters left the Northern Kingdoms to find the family of Sigfried and pursue their own destinies: Thora as the Rogue Smith of Silverveil and Brunwella as Madame Plonk, singer of the Great Ga'Hoole Tree.

Coming soon!

The Rise of a Legend[]

On the night of Lyze's hatchling, one of his neighbours, a Snowy named Elfstrom on leave from the Kielian League striker unit after a fierce battle, arrives late and freezes at the sight of Hanja, whom he, like many owls that knew her, believed to be a bringer of ill omen, exchanging horrified glances with Gundesfyrr. Moments later, it seemed that their fears were confirmed when a messenger arrives bringing with them news of Lyze's brother's death, so that when Lyze emerged, he was surrounded by sobbing adults, Elfstrom among them. On that same night, another Snowy named Moss hatches, his and Lyze's separate hatching being mere hours apart. Soon after his First-Meat-On-Bones Ceremony, Lyze becomes insanely jealous of Moss's more rapid advancements, as Snowy Owls gain their flight feathers earlier than Whiskered Screech Owls and Moss delighted in showing off his flying skills to Arne, his father, his three older sisters and an unnamed uncle.

One day, Lyze's parents, Rask and Ulfa, discuss a bloody occurrence that happened in the Bay of Fangs when a family of three Snowies were approached by Bylyric, a ruthless Snowy Owl and the power-hungry leader of the League of the Ice Talons, who, with two officers, attempts to recruit the family into the ranks of his army, only to fly into a mad rage in answer to their refusal. Stuffing the couple's newborn chick into a bodkin, Bylyric, declaring that he would make their baby a warrior if they wouldn't ascent, he then murdered both in front the very eyes of their son, who he then took presumably to the Ice Talons, intending to fulfil his promise of molding the baby into a League of the Ice Talons member. Many rumours circled around the Orphan Maker known Bylyric, who went by many names, including one that he was a half-hagsfiend concealed in the plumage of a Snowy.

Moss and Lyze's rivalry continued as, in Lyze's eyes, Moss continued to progress in everything faster than him. Lyze's opinion of him changed suddenly one night when, on his first circumnavigation of Hock Point, Moss beheld the return of his mother Hrenna, a friend of Ulfa and Rask's and commander of a unit called the Flying Leopards. While Moss's father greets his mate's return with delight, Moss wilfs at the sight of his mother's left talon, which has been fused together as a result to a battle wound. Lyze, his family and (presumably) Elfstrom are invited by the Snowy family to a celebration afterwards to commemorate Hrenna's return and during this, Lyze sees Moss cowering beside his mother in fear and shame, trying to hide Hrenna's mangled foot. Lyze understood his feelings exactly, as both his parents, Ulfa especially, are also physically scarred from war. The two henceforth bond over this and soon become best friends, Moss even delaying his flight milestone trip to Dark Fowl Island so that Lyze could join him. During this journey, they were accompanied by their fathers and flew past the Ice Dagger where they observed Barn Owl and Short-eared owl Kielian League ice harvesters at work, but got caught up in an ambush by Ice Talons hireclaws, who kill Piet. With weapons supplied by Bela, Arne and Raskin join the battle and Lyze and Moss, working together, were able to take down an enemy Barn Owl. In the wake of the skirmish, the owls fly swiftly to Dark Fowl to report this, especially since Bylyric's personal deputy was thought to have been seen commanding it, and afterwards, Arne and Hrenna, as with Ulfa and Rask, are both called back to reassume their positions. While on Dark Fowl, they meet the Rogue Smith Orf, who expresses condolences over the loss of Piet.

The Rogue Smith of Silverveil — Thora Plonk

During the following period, Moss and Lyze meet, approach and also befriend another Snowy - this time a female - called Thora Plonk (the same owl who would go on to become the Rogue Smith of Silverviel). Thora explains she is a runaway from her home in the Firth of Canis because of her abuse step-mother, Rodmilla, and is now self-training herself to be a skilled smith so she can apply to be an apprentice to Orf, despite their never being a female smith before, using the secret forge and tools of a masterful arms trader she found dead when she came to Stormfast. Thora offers to make both of their liffen claws into real battle claws in return for them coming to visit her once in a while, which they happily agree to.

While out hunting, Lyze and Moss are approached by a panicked Thora who warns of an incoming Ice Talon commando attack. The owls swoop in with fire claws (the coals of which were stolen from Thora's forge), and a battle breaks out between Bylyric's followers and the neighborhood. As the battle rages, Lyze and his friends manage to fight the Ice Talons off, battling enemy Barred, Barn and Great Gray Owls. Elfstrom also joins the fight, as do Moss's sisters and in the fray, the former engages in a duel with a Burrowing Owl until Lyze kills the foe. After Gilda rescues Lyze from his burning tree, Elfstrom anxiously stands over the Screech Owl with Gilda and a sooty Thora and Moss as Lyze comes to his senses. As Lyze cries out in concern for his sister, Lysa, Moss and Elfstrom exchange glances as, tearfully, Gilda reveals that Lysa had died of suffocation.

Distinguished from the battle, Moss and Thora, along with Lyze, subsequently began attacking the Kielian Military Academy, though things initially did not work out well for Thora's ambition of becoming a smith, which was met with utter appalment from her instructors. Despite this, Thora continued to admire Orf with a worshipful fascination and it was a good thing she did, for it allowed her to discover Skellig's plot to kidnap the famed smith. After discovering their base on Elsemere Island, Thora was able to return and secretly rouse Lyze, Lil and Moss, who then flew with her on a successful mission to save Orf with the aid of Blix and Loki, killing Skellig and his subordinates in the process on Elsemere Island.

In recognition of their inventiveness, General Andricus gave Lyze and his friends' ideas of recruiting Kielian Snakes his support, forming the Glauxspeed Division. Thora was also accepted by Orf as an apprentice, to the shock of many generals. Along with his best friend, Lillium and Strix Struma, Moss helped suggest other non-owl recruits, after which he was sent north to enlist snow leopards and large owls to the Kielian League, which he was able to do, setting up a training camp of the Nacht Sted where he trained six leopards, an Eagle Owl, a Hawk Owl, two Great Grays and two alleged Horned hireclaws. Unbeknownst to Moss, the Great Horneds, Half Beak and Three Talons, were in actuality slipgizzles for the League of the Ice Talons, as was Glynnis, Moss's falcon messenger. Fortunately, however, Moss was alerted by Blix, Lyze and Loki to the enemy present via a coded message, which he concealed from showing despair. Soon afterwards, Half Beak summons a small force of enemy owls to attack the camp and though the Kielian warriors win, they discover from Glynnis that Bylyric is aware of their new troops and lose one of their Great Grays. Afterwards, Moss transfers his remaining followers to a new black site.

Because of their skill in deftly sliding in besides small owls, Snowies were employed as midair reloads for the Glauxspeed Division, as well as partners for Kielian Snakes. Among the latter was Jonor, a Snowy that was partnered with Gilda until he took a fizgig to the skull in a skirmish with the Ice Talon League, after which Gilda, while waiting for her next assignment, employed her services in an orphan camp on the Hrath'ghar Glacier. While visiting this same camp, Lyze beheld a Snowy gently trying to comfort and offer some mouse to a tearful Spotted Owl, encouraging them gently and softly murmuring to them. Other Snowy Owls were recruited as part of the High Altitude Low Opening operations, since their feathers permitted them to blend in perfectly with the clouds of the Northern Kingdoms.

When searching for his brother Ifghar, Lyze briefly visited a grog tree that was currently where an elderly Snowy skog known as the "Blink Skog of Dark Fowl" told the legend of the Myschgrad Serpent in a strangely mesmerizing way.

After she infiltrated the Ice Talons and began working her way into the high mess, where Bylyric's generals eat, Octavia caught the attention of a male Snowy Owl officer due to her humming and, twisting to look at the Kielian Snake, inquired to the unfamiliar song, which she told him was a Hoolian song known as 'The Westward Wind'. This catches the attention of a Great Gray who delivers this report to Bylyric. Curious, as his burning ambition was not satisfied with just the conquest of the Northern Kingdom but its southern neighbor as well, Bylyric, the Monster of the Massif, issued a command for Octavia to be brought to him blinded for interrogation. Octavia, however, escapes and murders, at her pleadings, Bylyric's taster, who's carcass is found by a servant that instantly informs Lieutenant Jesper, Bylyric's son, to the happening. Realizing that Octavia was an enemy slipgizzle, a force of at least twenty-four Ice Talons composed of Great Grays and Snowies were sent sweeping over the sea in search of the Kielian Snake.

Rise bylyric — Bylyric, the leader of the Ice Talons

Several days later, the Battle of the Ice Claws commences and Lyze and his team of owls, snakes and Snow Leopards were swiftly pursued by a flock of Ice Talon League guards, including an armed Jesper, who Albimore notes for his resemblance to his sire. As the fight continues, the Orphan Maker himself arrives, with a fizgig in one talon, an ice dagger in the other and Ifghar and Gragg (who have turned traitor due to their support of the Talons ultimate goal of peace) arrive alongside him. All three of them attack Lyze's mate, Lil, with Bylyric getting the killing blow with his ice dagger. As she falls, Lyze retaliates by charging at Bylyric and attacking with his battle claws. He manages the one in a million shot of striking Bylyric in the gizzard, thus winning the battle. With the tyrant's death, Jesper, who was able to survived, inherited his remaining forces and continued the war until he was finally cornered on the Hrath'ghar by a group led by Moss and killed by a strike delivered by Patches, though not before he banished Ifghar and Gragg from the League of the Ice Talons.

While Moss remained and eventually became leader of the Kielian League, Thora, tired of war, retired from warfare before Jesper's death and flew to the Southern Kingdoms, eventually settling in Silverveil. However, she returns briefly to the Kingdoms to visit Lyze, who had fallen into a state of depression following Lil's death, and urges him to come with her and become a ryb of the Great Tree, merging his name backwards with the words 'ryb' to form the name 'Ezyl-ryb' and telling him that grief could eventually manifest into self-pity.

Trivia[]

Snowy Owls are stereotyped as being stubborn, as mentioned by Grank when describing Myrrthe.
In official art and in the movie, Boron and Barran more resemble the appearances of the opposite gender, with Boron being larger in the movie and having more black spots in the book art, and Barran being smaller in the movie and having a nearly blank white chest in the book art.
Their species name scandiacus is the Latinized word for Scandinavia, as this owl was first observed in the northern parts of Europe.
Their former genus name Nyctea is Greek for "night".
The Snowy Owl is the official bird of Quebec, Canada.