A wildlife photographer had a once-in-a-lifetime sighting—a wild snowy owl with orange feathers. She ended up spotting the owl several more times and snapping some truly incredible photos of it. This was back in February, and the photos circulated widely. In fact, they’re still making people scratch their heads online. How can a snowy owl be orange?
“I call her Creamsicle,” wrote Julie Maggert Photography in her first Facebook post sharing a photo of the unique owl. “No one knows why she is like this. There are theories going around, but nothing proven yet.”
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To find this animal, she drove two hours to Michigan. Once she saw the owl, she says she did a lot of sitting and waiting. Six hours later, she left without the shots she craved.
“All my shots were hundreds of yards away,” she wrote. “I decided not to post them that day.”
A couple of days later, Maggert and her husband drove back and tried a second time, only to leave disappointed once again.
Thankfully, she tried again and got a shot. Though more satisfied this time, she couldn’t help but go back a fourth time. And that’s when she struck gold.
“Sometimes, opportunities only come once in a lifetime. Well, I ended up having 4 with this Snowy,” Maggert wrote in a second post. “[Creamsicle] made me work for it. She finally perched onto a utility pole early enough with bright, blue skies.”
As for why Creamsicle is orange, it’s likely this owl has some some of genetic condition that affects the amount of pigment in her feathers.
See the orange snowy owl here:
Here’s one more photo of “Creamsicle”:
Header stock image by Vicki Jauron, Babylon and Beyond Photography/Getty Images