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).^[7] His first depiction of the snowy owl was done in pastels in 1809.^[8] The Snowy Owl was part of the original edition of The Birds of America (sometimes called the Havell Edition^[9][7] after its printer, and sometimes called the "Double Elephant Folio", because of its size). It was printed on handmade paper 39.5 inches tall by 28.5 inches wide (100.3 × 72.4 cm). The principal printing technique was copperplate etching, but engraving and aquatint were also used.^[9] Colourists applied each colour in an assembly-line fashion (over fifty were hired for the work).^[10] He was able to sell the Snowy Owl engravings to his wealthy patrons as part of The Birds of America.^[11]

Audubon described the snowy owl in his Ornithological Biographies, which he wrote with Scottish naturalist and ornithologist William MacGillivray.^[12] Part of his role as a naturalist was his examination of the stomach contents of owls. As was his habit, Audubon included his assessment of the owl's use as a food source. He stated that snowy owls were "not indelicate eating".^[13]

One art historian described the piece, as an image that depicts the owls as "...gazing directly into the eyes of the observer." The owls stand out from their dark background, as a developing winter storm is seen behind them. Though Audubon depicted the birds perched on the branch of the tree, the owls do not typically use trees as perches since much of their hunting ground is tundra and lacks trees. The female bird is realistically displayed as being larger than the male.^[8]

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

• University of Michigan, Ann Arbor^[14]
• Louisiana State University^[15]
• University of Pittsburgh^{[4][16][2][17][18][19]}
• Teylers Museum^[20]
• New-York Historical Society^[21]

• The Darlington Collection^[22][23]
• Meisei University^[24]
• Trinity College^[25]

• Rhodes, Richard (2004). John James Audubon: The Making of an American. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41412-6
• Olson, Roberta (2012). Audubon's Aviary: The Original Watercolors for The Birds of America. New York: New-York Historical Society Skira Rizzoli. ISBN 9780847834839.
• Davis, Duff (2003). Audubon's elephant. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 9780297829676.

• Birds of America at the University of Pittsburgh — with high resolution images of all 435 double elephant folios.
• Meisei University: Birds of America — the complete sets of 435 plates of drawings, with the accompanying five volumes of textbooks.
• The short film John James Audubon: The Birds of America (1986) is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive.
• Popular Science Monthly/Volume 31/September 1887/Sketch of J. J. Audubon