Snow White

These small fluffy creatures are also known as White foxes, Polar foxes, or Snow foxes. They are well adapted to living in cold environments and are best known for their thick, warm fur that is also used as camouflage. Arctic foxes must endure a temperature difference of up to 90-100 °C (160-180 °F) between the external environment and their internal core temperature. To prevent heat loss, the Arctic fox curls up tightly tucking its legs and ...
head under its body and behind its furry tail. This position gives the fox the smallest surface area to volume ratio and protects the least insulated areas. Arctic foxes also stay warm by getting out of the wind and residing in their dens. Less

Mute swans are large wholly white birds with an orange beak bordered with black. It is easy to recognise them by their pronounced knob atop the beak, which is larger in males. Young birds (cygnets), are not bright white in color as mature adults, and their bill is dull greyish-black, not orange, for the first year. The down may range from pure white to grey to buff, with grey/buff the most common. Cygnets grow quickly, reaching a size close to ...
their adult size in approximately three months after hatching. They typically retain their grey feathers until they are at least one year old. All Mute swans are white at maturity, though their feathers (particularly on the head and neck) are often stained orange-brown because of iron and tannins in the water. Less

The pure white fur of Arctic hares has a high reflectance which may prevent excessive heat gain during the day. They keep warm in winter using body orientation, posture and seeking or digging shelter. Arctic hares hide not only between rocks but also find shelter in other natural shelters such as snowdrifts, man-made structures, and even dig their own burrows in snowdrifts up to 188 cm in length. Less

These large marine giants undoubtedly attract with their white dense coats. For thousands of years, Polar bears have been a key figure in the material, spiritual, and cultural life of circumpolar peoples. The white coat of Polar bears usually yellows with age. Males have significantly longer hairs on their forelegs, which increase in length until the bear reaches 14 years of age. The male's ornamental foreleg hair is thought to attract females, ...
serving a similar function to the lion's mane. Polar bears gradually molt from May to August, but, unlike other Arctic mammals, they do not shed their coat for a darker shade to provide camouflage in summer conditions. Less

These beautiful all-white herons are found in Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Even the scientific name of these birds comes from Latin ardea, "heron", and alba, "white". Great egrets breed in colonies in trees close to large lakes with reed beds or other extensive wetlands. In North America, large numbers of these beautiful birds were killed around the end of the 19th century so that their plumes, known as "aigrettes", could be used to ...
decorate hats. Luckily, due to conservation measures, their numbers have since recovered. In 1953, the Great egret in flight was chosen as the symbol of the National Audubon Society, which was formed in part to prevent the killing of birds for their feathers. Less

Ermine have a pure white winter coat that is very dense and silky. In summer, their fur is sandy-brown on the back and head and white below. The skins of these small animals are prized by the fur trade, especially in a winter coat, and used to trim coats and stoles. The fur from the winter coat is referred to as ermine and is the traditional ancient symbol of the Duchy of Brittany, forming the earliest flag of that nation. There is also a design ...
called ermine inspired by the winter coat of the stoat and painted onto other furs, such as rabbit. In Europe, these furs are a symbol of royalty and high status. Less

The Arctic wolf is a subspecies of the Grey wolf and is also known as the White wolf or Polar wolf. Unlike some populations that move between tundra and forest regions, Arctic wolves spend their entire lives north of the northern treeline. Their warm snow-white fur helps the animals to survive harsh winters and to blend well with their native environment. Luckily Arctic wolves are not endangered at present, but they do face threats. In 1997, ...
there was a decline in their population and their main prey, muskoxen, and Arctic hares due to unfavorable weather conditions. However, the populations of these beautiful and mysterious animals recovered in summer after four years when weather conditions returned to normal. Less

White cockatoos are native to the tropical rainforests on the islands of Indonesia. These birds are also known as Umbrella cockatoos because when surprised, they extend a large and striking head crest, which has a semicircular shape, similar to an umbrella. The feathers of the White cockatoos are mostly white, however, the wings and tail have a pale yellow or lemon color which is exposed when they fly. Interestingly, the feathers of White ...
cockatoos create a powder similar to talcum powder that easily transfers to clothing. Less

Ivory gulls have completely white plumage, lacking the grey back of other gulls. Young birds have dusky faces and variable amounts of black flecking on the wings and tail. The juveniles take two years to attain full adult plumage. During the winter, Ivory gulls live near polynyas or a large area of open water surrounded by sea ice. In Newfoundland, these birds are well known by a few colloquial names such as Slob gulls where "slob" is a local ...
name for drift ice, and Ice partridges because of a vague resemblance to a ptarmigan. Less

This is another member of the hare family wearing a white coat. For camouflage, its fur turns white during the winter, except for black eyelids and the blackened tips on the ears; during the summer it becomes rusty brown. Its flanks remain white year-round. Snowshoe hares have the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of their hind feet which them from sinking into the snow when they hop and walk. Their feet also have fur on the soles to ...
protect them from freezing temperatures. Less

Snowy egrets are entirely white in color. Their nape and neck bear long, shaggy plumes known as aigrettes. At one time, the plumes of Snowy egrets were in great demand as decorations for women's hats. The birds were hunted for these plumes and this reduced the population of the species to dangerously low levels. Now, the Snowy egret is protected in the United States by law, under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and its population has rebounded. Less

Belugas are also known as White whales, as they are the only cetacean to regularly occur with this color. Adults are rarely mistaken because they are completely white or whitish-grey in color. Calves are usually born grey, and by the time they are a month old, have turned dark grey or blue grey. By the age of seven years in females and nine in males, they attain their distinctive white coloration. The white coloration of the skin is an ...
adaptation to life in the Arctic that allows belugas to camouflage themselves in the polar ice caps as protection against their main predators, Polar bears, and Killer whales. Unlike other cetaceans, belugas seasonally shed their skin. During the winter, the epidermis thickens and the skin can become yellowish, mainly on the back and fins. When they migrate to the estuaries during the summer, they rub themselves on the gravel of the riverbeds and remove the cutaneous covering. Less

The White tern is a small seabird that lives across the tropical oceans of the world. It is also known as the Angel tern and White noddy in English. White terns are one of the most useful of all the landfinding birds used by Pacific navigators. They generally roam no more than 45 km (28 mi) from their home island, to which they usually return at nightfall. By the way, the White tern is named manu-o-Kū in Hawaiian and was named Honolulu, ...
Hawaiʻi's official bird on April 2, 2007. Less

Mountains goats are excellent climbers commonly seen on cliffs and ice in their high-altitude habitats. The pure white dense wool of their undercoats is covered by an outer layer of longer, hollow hairs. Mountain goats molt in spring by rubbing against rocks and trees; the adult males shed their extra wool first and the pregnant females shed last. Their warm coats help them to withstand winter temperatures as low as −46 °C (−51 °F) and winds of ...
up to 160 kilometers per hour (99 mph). Less

These highly intelligent birds live in wooded habitats in Australia, New Guinea, and some of the islands of Indonesia. Their plumage is overall white, but the underwing and -tail are tinged yellow. The expressive crest is also yellow in color. Sulfur-crested cockatoos have very loud distinctive raucous calls, which is a result of an adaptation in order to travel through the forest environments in which they live. These birds are naturally ...
curious and have adapted very well to European settlement in Australia and live in many urban areas. In Sydney, Australia they have even learned how to open garbage bins in order to get food. Less

Although this amazing bird is not completely white in color, we still would like to include it in our "Snow White" collection. Locally known as jalak Bali, this rare bird is almost wholly white except for black tips on the wings and tail and blue bare skin around the eyes. Bali mynas are secretive and spend most of their time in tree tops for cover and usually come to the ground only to drink or to find nesting materials; this adaptation helps ...
them to stay unnoticed by predators. This species is critically endangered and the wild population has been close to extinction since at least 1994. According to IUCN Red List, fewer than 50 adults were assumed to exist in the wild. Less

The Honduran white bat has distinctive, entirely white fur, which is only found in six of the roughly 1,300 known species of bat. These cute creatures live in Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Despite their conspicuous coloration, over sixty years passed between the discovery of the first Honduran white bat in 1898 and the next discovery in 1963. This species is currently evaluated as near-threatened by the IUCN. The main reason for ...
the Honduran white bat population decline is the loss of its native habitat because it is highly dependent on a single species of fig for its food source. Less

These pure white fulmarine petrels can be found only in cold Antarctic waters. Flocks of these birds can typically be seen sitting on icebergs. Snow petrels breed in colonies that can nest more than 400 km (250 mi) from the open sea. Colonies that nest far from the sea have special cleaning areas where Snow petrels bathe in snow keeping themselves clean. These birds live for about 20 years in the wild and form pairs where partners are faithful ...
for life. Less