It was printed full size and is an early illustration of a snowy owl and part of The Birds of America.

[2] The plant life backgrounds of this engraving were done by Audubon's assistants and Joseph Mason but they are not credited in the book.

[6] Though Audubon typically used oil colours, for this piece he used watercolours and pastel crayons (and occasionally pencil, charcoal, chalk, gouache, and pen and ink).

[11] Audubon described the snowy owl in his Ornithological Biographies, which he wrote with Scottish naturalist and ornithologist William MacGillivray.

[13] One art historian described the piece, as an image that depicts the owls as "...gazing directly into the eyes of the observer."

[8] The Snowy Owl engraving has displayed individually and as part of exhibitions of The Birds of America by the following organizations: