Imagine trying to survive in the open Arctic tundra. For many animals, a habitat like this would be impossible. Yet the snowy owl, a bird about 60 centimeters long, thrives there, thanks to features that scientists call adaptations: traits that help a living thing survive in its environment.
Consider thick white feathers that cover even its feet: this adaptation keep it warm and hidden against the snow. Equally important is very sharp hearing, which lets it find animals moving under the snow. Without these traits, the snowy owl would struggle to last a single season.
As a carnivore, the snowy owl is an animal that eats other animals; it depends on lemmings, voles and birds. Its behavior matters as much as its body: it hunts during the day as well as at night, because Arctic summers have almost no darkness. Behaviors like this are adaptations too, even though you cannot see them in a photograph.
The next generation faces the same challenges. Young snowy owls, called owlets, depend on their surroundings and on adult care. Owlets leave the nest before they can fly and hide among the rocks nearby.
Perhaps most remarkable of all: one snowy owl may eat more than 1,000 lemmings in a year. Facts like this remind us that every animal's body tells a story about the place it lives.