merlin (Falco columbarius). The much bulkier snowy owls cannot match the speed and flight ability of a falcon, and may be almost relentlessly tormented by some birds such as peregrines. Breeding Pair bond and breeding territory In Utqiaġvik, of 239 recorded breeding attempts, 232 were monogamous, the other 7 social bigamy. On Baffin Island, 1 male bred with 2 females and sired 11 total fledged young. Another case of bigamy was reported in Norway where the 2 females bred to one male were apart in nest site location. On Feltar from 1967 to 1975, a male bred with two females, 1 younger and was possibly his own daughter. In the Feltar males first time breeding with both females, he did not bring food to the younger female. However, when older female disappeared the following year, the male and younger female producing 4 young, but disappeared the subsequent year altogether in 1975. There are also unconfirmed cases of polyandry, with 1 female being fed by 2 males. Snowy owls can breed once per year but when food is scarce many do not even attempt to breed. Despite frequent wandering in search of food, they generally adhere more so than to a strict breeding season than short-eared owls nesting in the tundra. 9 radio-tagged female snowy owls about Bylot Island were tracked to study how pre-laying snow cover effects their searching behavior for breeding area. These tracked females searched an average of 36 days and covered an average of . It is thought that the male and female mutually find an attractive breeding spot independently and converge. The breeding territory normally averages about as in both Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island but varies in accordance to abundance of food and density of owls. Nesting territories average at Baffin island in the range of during poor lemming years. Nesting territories may up to on Southampton Island and had a mean distance of between active nests. In Utqiaġvik, nesting pairs can vary from none to at least 7 and the territories average , with mean nest distances of . In the Norwegian highlands, nesting occurs only at times of plenty distances of between nests, averaging . Males marks territory with singing and display flights and likely always initiates. During the display, he engages in exaggerated wing beats with a shallow undulating and bouncy courtship flight with wings held in a dihedral. He often drops