{ "model": { "rank": 3110, "code": "thing-q170177", "model_id": "vr.tr.snowy-owl", "name": "Snowy Owl", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a Snowy Owl, assess its condition and ecological circumstances, and choose evidence-supported observation, protection or specialist intervention.", "family": "Thing Registry", "category": "Physical world and living systems", "status": "research-draft", "kind": "thing", "plane": "PHY", "domain": "PHY.LIV", "industry": "", "version": "", "url": "/models/thing/q170177/", "tier": 2, "score": 91, "payload": { "layer": "wikidata", "aliases": [], "aliasCount": 0, "merged": 0, "knownIn": 91, "facets": null, "markers": [], "lexicalClass": "", "senseRank": null, "alsoRegisteredAs": null, "source": { "dataset": "wikidata", "item": "Q170177", "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q170177", "license": "CC0 1.0" } }, "research": { "vercy": "1.0-draft", "publication": { "status": "research-draft", "adjudicationStatus": "unreviewed", "publishableCanonical": false, "generatedAt": "2026-09-07T14:54:15Z", "providers": [ "Codex", "Grok" ], "missingProviders": [], "pass": 2, "cost": { "grok": { "usd": 0.01386656, "turns": 1, "seconds": 245.9, "error": null }, "codex": { "seconds": 97.7, "error": "Reading additional input from stdin...\nOpenAI Codex v0.153.3\n--------\nworkdir: R:\\02_PROJECTS\\02_Meta_Models_Platforms\\Ver.cy\\current\\thing-registry-backlog\nmodel: gpt-6-astra\nprovider: openai\napproval: never\nsandbox: read-only\nreasoning effort: none\nreasoning summaries: none\nsession id: 01a07c57-0a62-7132-8af1-416c7aaaf405\n--------\nuser\nYou are drafting a Vercy meta-model for one registered thing. Answer as JSON only, no prose around it.\n\nThing: Snowy Owl\nRegistry id: vr.tr.snowy-owl\nPlane / domain: PHY / PHY.LIV\nRegistry definition: (none recorded)\nNames folded into this entry: (none)\n\nA Ver" } } }, "metaModel": { "id": "THING-Q170177", "registryId": "vr.tr.snowy-owl", "name": "Snowy Owl", "version": "0.1.0-research.1", "entryKind": "thing", "family": "Thing Registry", "domain": [ "PHY.LIV" ], "status": "research-draft" }, "canonicalUrl": "https://ver.cy/models/thing/q170177/", "model": { "registry_id": "vr.tr.snowy-owl", "name": "Snowy Owl", "purpose": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a Snowy Owl, assess its condition and ecological circumstances, and choose evidence-supported observation, protection or specialist intervention.", "definition": "The snowy owl (Bubo scandiacus) is a large, largely diurnal strigid of circumpolar Arctic tundra, a lemming-specialist predator whose breeding output and irregular southward winter irruptions track small-mammal cycles, and is treated as a monotypic species in Bubo after the former genus Nyctea was sunk.", "scope_statement": "This model owns the Snowy Owl-specific requirements for interpreting individual birds and their observations under vr.tr.snowy-owl in PHY / PHY.LIV, including identification uncertainty, development, feeding, seasonal movement, reproductive dependencies and constraints on interaction.", "in_scope": [ "Species identification and evidence linking observations to an individual Snowy Owl", "Plumage, developmental stage and cautiously supported sex assessment", "Physical condition, flight capability and observed feeding performance", "Seasonal location, open-habitat use and movement history", "Breeding state, parental relationships and dependent young", "Disturbance, immediate hazards and prerequisites for intervention" ], "out_of_scope": [ "Other owl and falcon species, except as identification alternatives", "Lemming, waterfowl and other prey models beyond their relationships to the owl", "Tundra, coastal and agricultural ecosystem models beyond the owl's use of them", "Population census methods and conservation programmes beyond links relevant to an individual", "Veterinary treatment protocols and rehabilitation facility operations", "Legal instruments, permits and land-management systems beyond applicable constraints" ], "distinguishing_features": [ "Against a pale Gyrfalcon, test for the Snowy Owl's bulky body and large rounded head; a Gyrfalcon has a slimmer profile and smaller head. [Cornell comparison](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/species-compare/)", "In flight, compare broad owl wings and tail proportions with the Gyrfalcon's narrower, more pointed wings and longer tail. [Cornell comparison](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/species-compare/)", "Against an American Barn Owl, compare overall bulk and plumage: the Barn Owl is smaller and slimmer, with buff and brown tones rather than the Snowy Owl's white ground colour. [Cornell comparison](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/species-compare/)", "Require a combination of yellow eyes, a smoothly rounded head, densely feathered legs and white plumage with variable dark markings; whiteness alone is insufficient. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/id)" ], "characteristics": [ { "name": "Identification support", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "confirmed; probable; unresolved; rejected, with evidence and alternatives", "why_it_matters": "Prevents a pale raptor or an ambiguous image from triggering Snowy Owl-specific decisions." }, { "name": "Plumage marking distribution", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "White ground colour; dark marking extent and pattern by head, body, wings and tail; unknown regions", "why_it_matters": "Supports identification and cautious age or sex assessment without treating colour as decisive." }, { "name": "Developmental and sex assessment", "kind": "category", "unit_or_values": "Stage: downy chick; dependent juvenile; independent immature; adult; unknown. Sex: female; male; unknown. Record method and confidence separately.", "why_it_matters": "Changes the interpretation of mobility, dependence, plumage and body measurements." }, { "name": "Body mass", "kind": "measurement", "unit_or_values": "g, with measurement date, method and developmental context", "why_it_matters": "Supports condition assessment when interpreted with structural size and qualified examination." }, { "name": "Flight and locomotor function", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Apparently coordinated; impaired; not observed; indeterminate, with observed movement", "why_it_matters": "Helps distinguish documented impairment from a bird that simply remained perched." }, { "name": "Feeding evidence", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Owl linked to identified or unidentified prey, hunting attempt, capture, ingestion or attributed pellet", "why_it_matters": "Separates demonstrated food intake from prey availability or assumed diet." }, { "name": "Seasonal occurrence", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Timestamped location with spatial uncertainty, habitat, observation effort and candidate seasonal role", "why_it_matters": "Supports interpretation of breeding, winter residence and passage without assigning a fixed migration schedule." }, { "name": "Reproductive dependence", "kind": "relation", "unit_or_values": "Mate; nest; egg; dependent young; provisioning adult; uncertain association", "why_it_matters": "Makes consequences for linked birds visible before disturbance or movement." }, { "name": "Response to approach", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "No detected change; vigilance; interrupted activity; displacement; defensive behaviour; unknown", "why_it_matters": "Supports decisions to withdraw or change observation methods." }, { "name": "Intervention eligibility", "kind": "state", "unit_or_values": "Observation only; specialist assessment needed; authorised intervention; unresolved", "why_it_matters": "Connects the owl's circumstances to verified authority, expertise and an intervention rationale." } ], "affordances": [ "Identify and document the owl remotely, preserving uncertainty and comparison evidence.", "Associate repeat sightings through readable marks, tags or other defensible individual evidence.", "Monitor feeding, flight, breeding activity and responses to observers.", "Assess whether a proposed approach or site activity could interrupt the owl's current activity or affect dependent young.", "Refer documented injury or immediate hazard to an appropriate wildlife specialist.", "Support capture, sampling, tagging, transport or release only after recording applicable authorisation and specialist criteria." ] }, "sources": [ { "id": "potapov-sale-2012", "title": "The Snowy Owl", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Monograph covering taxonomy (Nyctea to Bubo), circumpolar breeding biology, lemming-cycle dependence, measurements, irruptions, and identification against other white raptors." }, { "id": "bow-snoowl1", "title": "Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus), Birds of the World", "url": "https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/snoowl1/cur/introduction", "what_it_supports": "Current species account used for identification, age/sex plumage classes, measurements, range, diet, and the eBird/Clements species code snoowl1.", "url_status": "live" }, { "id": "iucn-bubo-scandiacus", "title": "Bubo scandiacus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species", "url": "", "what_it_supports": "Global Red List status (Vulnerable as of the 2021 BirdLife assessment), population-size order of magnitude, and climate/lemming-related decline rationale." }, { "id": "cites-appendices", "title": "CITES Appendices (Strigidae spp.)", "url": "https://cites.org/eng/app/appendices.php", "what_it_supports": "International trade control: snowy owl is listed on Appendix II as part of Strigidae spp.", "url_status": "blocked" }, { "id": "all-about-birds-snowy-owl", "title": "Snowy Owl, All About Birds", "url": "https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl", "what_it_supports": "Field identification, size, winter occurrence in temperate North America, and airport/open-country hunting habitat.", "url_status": "blocked" } ], "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "snowy-owl-recognition", "name": "Snowy Owl Recognition", "description": "Establish species identity and the limits of individual, age and sex attribution.", "rationale": "White plumage and a distant raptor silhouette do not establish either species or individual identity.", "layers": [ { "id": "diagnostic-evidence", "name": "Diagnostic Evidence", "description": "Combine visible structure and plumage with explicit alternative identifications.", "findings": [ { "id": "species-identification-support", "name": "Species Identification Support", "description": "Record which diagnostic features are visible, which are obscured and whether competing identifications remain plausible.", "questions": [ { "text": "Which visible head, eye, leg, wing and plumage features support Snowy Owl identification?", "kind": "definition", "id": "species-identification-support-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence excludes a pale Gyrfalcon, American Barn Owl or unusually pale alternative species?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "species-identification-support-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "individual-and-plumage-interpretation", "name": "Individual and Plumage Interpretation", "description": "Separate observed markings from inferred sex, age and continuity across sightings.", "findings": [ { "id": "attribution-confidence", "name": "Attribution Confidence", "description": "Retain the basis and uncertainty for individual matching and age or sex assignments; Snowy Owl marking intensity varies with age and sex. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/id)", "questions": [ { "text": "Does a readable band, tag or documented combination of features establish that two observations concern the same owl?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "attribution-confidence-q01" }, { "text": "Which validated method supports the age or sex assignment, and what alternatives remain?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "attribution-confidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-feeding", "name": "Condition and Feeding", "description": "Connect physical function and feeding evidence to the owl's ability to sustain itself.", "rationale": "A stationary owl, an unsuccessful hunt and a clinically compromised bird require different interpretations.", "layers": [ { "id": "physical-function", "name": "Physical Function", "description": "Assess observable movement and condition while retaining the limits of remote observation.", "findings": [ { "id": "functional-condition-evidence", "name": "Functional Condition Evidence", "description": "Record posture, wing symmetry, locomotion, visible injuries and qualified measurements without inferring fitness from apparent feathered bulk.", "questions": [ { "text": "What directly observed evidence shows coordinated flight, walking, balance or impairment?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "functional-condition-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Which findings justify specialist assessment rather than continued remote observation?", "kind": "action", "id": "functional-condition-evidence-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "prey-and-intake", "name": "Prey and Intake", "description": "Distinguish prey opportunity, hunting effort and demonstrated consumption.", "findings": [ { "id": "realised-feeding", "name": "Realised Feeding", "description": "Record actual prey and intake evidence rather than assuming a lemming-only diet; Snowy Owls also take birds and other mammals. [Cornell life history](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snowy_owl/lifehistory)", "questions": [ { "text": "Which prey were captured or consumed, how were they identified, and over what observation period?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "realised-feeding-q01" }, { "text": "Can a pellet or prey remain be attributed to this owl and time interval, or only to the site?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "realised-feeding-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "seasonal-space-use", "name": "Seasonal Space Use", "description": "Interpret location through season, habitat use and supported movement history.", "rationale": "A sighting alone cannot distinguish residence, passage, breeding occupancy or an unusual seasonal occurrence.", "layers": [ { "id": "hunting-and-resting-sites", "name": "Hunting and Resting Sites", "description": "Describe the site's functional use by the owl.", "findings": [ { "id": "site-use-evidence", "name": "Site Use Evidence", "description": "Record open terrain, perch or ground position and observed activity; Snowy Owls use tundra and other open environments, including winter fields and shores. [Cornell identification](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Snowy_Owl/id)", "questions": [ { "text": "Is this owl hunting, resting, feeding or merely passing through the recorded site?", "kind": "definition", "id": "site-use-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "What terrain, snow cover, sightlines and prey-access conditions accompany that use?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "site-use-evidence-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-seasonal-role", "name": "Movement and Seasonal Role", "description": "Interpret repeated occurrences without assuming all Snowy Owls follow one route or calendar.", "findings": [ { "id": "seasonal-role-confidence", "name": "Seasonal Role Confidence", "description": "Maintain candidate interpretations of residency, passage and breeding association with the evidence needed to revise them.", "questions": [ { "text": "What dated sightings or tracking records support residence, transit or return to a previously used area?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "seasonal-role-confidence-q01" }, { "text": "What regional baseline and observation effort are needed before calling this occurrence an irruption or range anomaly?", "kind": "boundary", "id": "seasonal-role-confidence-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "breeding-and-dependence", "name": "Breeding and Dependence", "description": "Represent reproductive state and dependencies among adults, nests and young.", "rationale": "An action affecting one owl can also affect an active ground nest or dependent young.", "layers": [ { "id": "breeding-evidence", "name": "Breeding Evidence", "description": "Separate suspected breeding activity from established nest use.", "findings": [ { "id": "nest-association-and-stage", "name": "Nest Association and Stage", "description": "Record the owl's evidenced association with a nest and breeding stage; Snowy Owls nest in ground scrapes on tundra. [Cornell life history](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/snowy_owl/lifehistory)", "questions": [ { "text": "What evidence establishes courtship, incubation, brooding or provisioning rather than simple proximity to another owl?", "kind": "definition", "id": "nest-association-and-stage-q01" }, { "text": "Which adult, nest and observation records support this association without requiring additional disturbance?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "nest-association-and-stage-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "young-and-parental-support", "name": "Young and Parental Support", "description": "Assess developmental capability and continuing care independently of nest occupancy.", "findings": [ { "id": "dependency-assessment", "name": "Dependency Assessment", "description": "Record mobility, flight, provisioning and adult attendance before assigning independence or abandonment.", "questions": [ { "text": "What observations establish whether this young owl can fly, feed itself and still receives parental care?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "dependency-assessment-q01" }, { "text": "What evidence and specialist criteria must be satisfied before treating an unattended young owl as needing rescue?", "kind": "action", "id": "dependency-assessment-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "disturbance-and-intervention", "name": "Disturbance and Intervention", "description": "Determine how human presence and proposed actions affect this owl in its present circumstances.", "rationale": "Observation, habitat protection and physical intervention require different evidence about disturbance, hazards and authority.", "layers": [ { "id": "encounter-and-hazard-assessment", "name": "Encounter and Hazard Assessment", "description": "Connect human activity and site hazards to observed exposure or behavioural change.", "findings": [ { "id": "disturbance-and-exposure-evidence", "name": "Disturbance and Exposure Evidence", "description": "Record approach conditions, interrupted activity, displacement and proximity to vehicles, aircraft, infrastructure or other observed hazards.", "questions": [ { "text": "Did the owl change vigilance, hunting, resting or nest-related behaviour as people or equipment approached?", "kind": "measurement", "id": "disturbance-and-exposure-evidence-q01" }, { "text": "Should observers withdraw, restrict location disclosure or notify a site specialist given the documented circumstances?", "kind": "action", "id": "disturbance-and-exposure-evidence-q02" } ] } ] }, { "id": "authorised-response", "name": "Authorised Response", "description": "Gate handling and relocation through a documented need and applicable specialist authority.", "findings": [ { "id": "intervention-decision-basis", "name": "Intervention Decision Basis", "description": "Link any proposed capture, sampling, tagging, transport or release to evidence, current jurisdictional requirements, qualified personnel and reproductive dependencies.", "questions": [ { "text": "What documented injury or hazard justifies intervention, and how would it affect any dependent young?", "kind": "action", "id": "intervention-decision-basis-q01" }, { "text": "Which current authority, permit conditions and specialist assessment establish who may perform the proposed action?", "kind": "provenance", "id": "intervention-decision-basis-q02" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "evidence-and-external-alignment", "name": "Evidence and external alignment", "description": "What the world already says about this thing, gathered so the model can be checked against it.", "rationale": "A model that cannot be lined up against existing standards, identifiers and practice cannot be adopted by anyone who already uses them.", "layers": [ { "id": "reported-evidence", "name": "Reported evidence", "description": "Findings from the breadth pass, kept separate from the structural claims.", "findings": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds", "name": "Kinds and varieties", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Adult male (nearly immaculate white; least dark barring)", "Adult female (larger; heavy dark barring and spotting retained)", "Hatch-year / first-winter (darkest; dense barring, often a grey-brown wash)", "Second-calendar-year subadult (transitional body and flight-feather moult)", "Breeding-ground Arctic birds versus irruptive temperate-latitude winterers (a seasonal occurrence class, not a taxon)" ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-kinds-q01", "text": "Which of these kinds and varieties hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-identifiers", "name": "Identifiers and schemes", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "scheme": "ICZN binomial", "value_or_pattern": "Bubo scandiacus (Linnaeus, 1758)", "note": "Original combination Strix scandiaca; long placed in monotypic Nyctea scandiaca; now in Bubo." }, { "scheme": "eBird / Clements species code", "value_or_pattern": "snoowl1", "note": "Stable code used by eBird, Birds of the World, and the Clements checklist." }, { "scheme": "USGS/BBL 4-letter alpha code", "value_or_pattern": "SNOW", "note": "North American bird-banding alpha code for Snowy Owl." }, { "scheme": "IOC World Bird List English name", "value_or_pattern": "Snowy Owl", "note": "IOC and Clements/AOS English name; scientific name Bubo scandiacus; treated as monotypic." }, { "scheme": "CITES listing", "value_or_pattern": "Appendix II (Strigidae spp.)", "note": "All typical owls not on Appendix I are listed at family level on Appendix II." }, { "scheme": "IUCN / BirdLife taxon", "value_or_pattern": "Bubo scandiacus", "note": "Assessed as a single global taxon; no currently recognised subspecies." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-identifiers-q01", "text": "Which of these identifiers and schemes hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation", "name": "Standards and regulation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "CITES Appendix II (CITES Parties / UNEP) - international commercial trade in live birds, parts and derivatives requires permits.", "IUCN Red List: Bubo scandiacus, Vulnerable (BirdLife International, 2021 assessment) - not law, but the status used in conservation policy.", "United States Migratory Bird Treaty Act (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) - take, possession and trade of wild snowy owls, nests and eggs prohibited without a permit.", "Canada Migratory Birds Convention Act, 1994 (Environment and Climate Change Canada) - federal protection of the species as a migratory bird.", "EU Birds Directive 2009/147/EC (European Commission / Member States) - snowy owl is an Annex I species in the northern Palearctic breeding range.", "National/provincial wildlife statutes (e.g. Québec as official bird; Fennoscandian species-protection rules) - possession, disturbance at nests, and rehabilitation require licences." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-standards-and-regulation-q01", "text": "Which of these standards and regulation hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-real-world-use", "name": "Real-world use", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Breeding-season fieldwork on Arctic coastal tundra (classic sites include Utqiaġvik/Barrow, Alaska, and parts of the Canadian Arctic and Fennoscandia) as an index of lemming years.", "Winter irruption watching on open temperate habitats: airports, dunes, lake-ice, prairies and landfills; Logan International Airport (Boston) is a well-known capture-and-relocate programme because the owls hunt the airfield.", "Aircraft-strike hazard management: snowy owls use runways and infields as hunting perches, so they are trapped, banded and translocated rather than left on the field.", "Captive education and zoo birds; post-Harry Potter (Hedwig) demand also produced illegal-pet seizures and high captive mortality.", "Inuit cultural use and naming (ukpik/ookpik); Québec uses the snowy owl (harfang des neiges) as the provincial bird.", "Regulated international trade under CITES (falconry/education birds, specimens), not a standard North American falconry quarry." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-real-world-use-q01", "text": "Which of these real-world use hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-measurements", "name": "Typical measurements", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "quantity": "Body mass (adult)", "typical_range": "males about 1.3-2.5; females about 1.6-3.0", "unit": "kg" }, { "quantity": "Total length", "typical_range": "52-71", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "Wingspan", "typical_range": "125-150", "unit": "cm" }, { "quantity": "Clutch size", "typical_range": "3-11 (low in poor lemming years, high in peak years)", "unit": "eggs" }, { "quantity": "Incubation period", "typical_range": "31-33", "unit": "days" }, { "quantity": "Global mature population (IUCN/BirdLife order of magnitude)", "typical_range": "about 14000-28000 mature individuals (declining; estimates remain uncertain)", "unit": "individuals" } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-measurements-q01", "text": "Which of these typical measurements hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards", "name": "Failure modes and hazards", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "Starvation during southward irruptions when inexperienced birds meet low prey and high energetic cost.", "Collision with aircraft on airfields that mimic tundra hunting habitat.", "Vehicle strikes on coastal roads, dykes and airport perimeters where birds sit on the ground or on posts.", "Breeding failure and range contraction when climate-driven collapse or dampening of lemming cycles removes the main prey.", "Illegal shooting and persecution, plus poorly kept illegal pets after popular-culture demand.", "Nest disturbance and predation at accessible tundra nest scrapes (foxes, jaegers, humans).", "Electrocution and secondary exposure to rodenticides in wintering farmland and landfill sites.", "Captive stress, bumblefoot and malnutrition in education birds held in climates and diets unlike Arctic tundra." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-failure-modes-and-hazards-q01", "text": "Which of these failure modes and hazards hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-regional-variation", "name": "Regional variation", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ "English 'snowy owl' is standard in AOS/IOC lists; French harfang des neiges is the usual name in Québec and France and is the Québec provincial emblem.", "Inuktitut ukpik (also ookpik in craft/trade usage) is the widespread Inuit name; it is not a taxonomic synonym.", "Scandinavian names track habitat not colour: Swedish fjälluggla, Norwegian snøugle, Finnish tunturipöllö; Russian белая сова ('white owl').", "Taxonomy: Holarctic lists now use Bubo scandiacus; older Palearctic literature and some museum catalogues still file the species as Nyctea scandiaca.", "Occurrence class differs by region: a breeding resident/summer bird of High Arctic tundra versus an irregular winter visitor as far south as the northern contiguous United States, Japan (Hokkaido) and, as a vagrant, the British Isles.", "No currently accepted subspecies; apparent east-west plumage or size differences are treated as individual, sex and age variation, not named geographic races." ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-regional-variation-q01", "text": "Which of these regional variation hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] }, { "id": "evidence-neighbours", "name": "Neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart", "description": "Reported by the breadth pass; each item needs checking against its source before it becomes normative.", "evidence": [ { "name": "Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), pale individuals", "difference": "Great Horned Owl always shows prominent ear tufts and a darker facial disk; snowy owl is tuftless and, in adult males, nearly pure white." }, { "name": "Barn Owl (Tyto alba)", "difference": "Barn Owl has a heart-shaped face, dark eyes and a much smaller, slimmer build; snowy owl has round yellow eyes and a bulky Bubo silhouette." }, { "name": "Short-eared Owl (Asio flammeus)", "difference": "Short-eared Owl is substantially smaller, buffy-streaked rather than white, and shows dark carpal patches in flight; it is the other diurnal open-country owl most often seen on the same winter fields." }, { "name": "Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), white morph", "difference": "White gyrfalcons have pointed falcon wings, a small head and no facial disk; snowy owls have rounded wings, slow rowing flight and a large rounded head." }, { "name": "Adult female snowy owl versus juvenile", "difference": "Sex and age are separated by extent of dark barring plus moult: adult males are whitest; juveniles are darkest with a grey-brown wash and uniform juvenile remiges; females retain heavy barring into adulthood." } ], "questions": [ { "id": "evidence-neighbours-q01", "text": "Which of these neighbouring kinds and how to tell them apart hold for the sense of Snowy Owl this model covers, and on what evidence?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "openQuestions": [ "Which validated plumage and moult criteria support Snowy Owl age and sex assessment at each developmental stage, and where do assignments remain ambiguous?", "Which body-condition measures and functional signs reliably distinguish normal resting from clinically significant compromise across ages and seasons?", "Which regional movement baselines and observation-effort corrections support classifications of winter residence, passage and irruptive occurrence?", "What species-specific evidence should govern observer withdrawal, nest buffers and assessment of apparently unattended young?", "Which current jurisdictional rules and specialist protocols govern Snowy Owl handling, tagging, rescue, relocation and release?" ], "statistics": { "bundles": 6, "layers": 11, "findings": 18, "questions": 28 } }, "draft": { "generator": "vr.draft.v3", "status": "draft-generated", "researched": false, "archetype": "organism", "method": "Written from the archetype playbook - what this kind of thing needs beyond identity and provenance - and from the structure that recurred across 6,333 models already researched by two engines. Applied to this entry by rule. No source was read for this thing and no claim here is researched. This entry carries no facets of its own, so they were inferred from its domain - a guess about a whole domain applied to one thing.", "facetsInferred": true, "nextPass": "A researcher replaces this draft with a sourced specification. Treat every sentence below as a proposal to argue with.", "purpose": "Give an agent a durable, checkable way to recognise a Snowy Owl, record what state it is in, and decide what may be done with it.", "whatItIs": "Enable an AI agent to recognise a Snowy Owl, assess its condition and ecological circumstances, and choose evidence-supported observation, protection or specialist intervention.", "characteristics": { "substance": "living", "origin": "natural", "agency": "autonomous", "mobility": "self-moving" }, "whatYouCanDoWithIt": [ "observed and measured" ], "distinguishingFeatures": [ "Described in 91 Wikipedia languages, which is a measure of how widely the thing is known, not of how important it is." ], "openQuestionsForResearch": [ "Which of the bundles below does a real task actually need, and which are ceremony?", "What does this thing have that the facets do not capture at all?", "Which neighbouring kind is most often confused with a Snowy Owl, and on what evidence are they told apart?" ], "whatItIsMadeOf": "a living thing", "physicalCharacter": [ "Moves under its own power or of its own accord.", "Acts on its own behalf.", "These come from the domain this entry sits in rather than from the entry itself, so treat them as a first guess about the whole domain applied to one thing." ], "whatCanBeDoneWithIt": [ "observe it, measure it, record its state" ], "howItIsRecognised": [ "Recognised by diagnostic characters, and those differ by life stage - the young of many kinds are mistaken for other kinds entirely. A sighting is settled by characters, a photograph and a place, not by a name alone." ], "relatedModels": [], "standing": "Described in 91 Wikipedia languages, which measures how widely it is written about rather than how important or how common it is.", "structure": { "bundles": [ { "id": "identity-and-classification", "name": "Identity, naming and classification", "description": "How an agent tells one Snowy Owl from another, and a Snowy Owl from things that resemble it.", "rationale": "Recognition comes before every other claim. Without stable identity nothing else in the model can be trusted to be about the same thing twice.", "layers": [ { "id": "naming-and-identifiers", "name": "Names and identifiers", "description": "The names this thing goes by and the identifiers that survive translation and time.", "findings": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases", "name": "Preferred name, aliases and local names", "description": "Which name to use, which names mean the same thing, and which merely sound similar.", "questions": [ { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the name of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the name of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "preferred-name-and-aliases-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the name of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers", "name": "Stable identifiers and external keys", "description": "Identifiers that keep pointing at this kind of thing across systems and languages.", "questions": [ { "id": "stable-identifiers-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an identifier for a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an identifier for a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stable-identifiers-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an identifier for a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "classification-and-granularity", "name": "Classification and granularity", "description": "Where a Snowy Owl sits among kinds, and how finely a task needs to cut it.", "findings": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents", "name": "Kind, parents and neighbouring kinds", "description": "The classes this thing belongs to and the ones it is next to.", "questions": [ { "id": "kind-and-parents-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the kind of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the kind of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "kind-and-parents-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the kind of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features", "name": "Distinguishing features", "description": "What separates a Snowy Owl from the things most often confused with it.", "questions": [ { "id": "distinguishing-features-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes what distinguishes a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about what distinguishes a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "distinguishing-features-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once what distinguishes a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "form-and-composition", "name": "Form, composition and condition", "description": "What a Snowy Owl is made of, what shape and size it takes, and what state it is in.", "rationale": "A physical thing can be measured, and a model that cannot record its measurements cannot support any decision that depends on them.", "layers": [ { "id": "form-and-dimensions", "name": "Form and dimensions", "description": "Shape, size, mass and the ranges these take across examples.", "findings": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions", "name": "Measurable dimensions and their units", "description": "The quantities worth recording and the units they are recorded in.", "questions": [ { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the dimensions of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the dimensions of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "measurable-dimensions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the dimensions of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "material-and-composition", "name": "Material and composition", "description": "Anatomy, parts and life stage.", "findings": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials", "name": "Parts and life stages", "description": "The parts of a Snowy Owl and the stages it passes through.", "questions": [ { "id": "parts-and-materials-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the composition of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the composition of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "parts-and-materials-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the composition of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "condition-and-integrity", "name": "Condition and integrity", "description": "Wear, damage, health and the difference between working and broken.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition, damage and health", "description": "How the condition of a Snowy Owl is judged and by whom.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the condition of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the condition of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the condition of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "place-and-movement", "name": "Place and movement", "description": "Where a Snowy Owl is, how it got there and where it may go (self-moving).", "rationale": "A thing that can move needs its position recorded with a time, or every later claim about it is about a place it has left.", "layers": [ { "id": "location-and-placement", "name": "Location and placement", "description": "Position, containment and the reference frame the position is given in.", "findings": [ { "id": "position-and-frame", "name": "Position, container and reference frame", "description": "Where a Snowy Owl is, and what that position is measured against.", "questions": [ { "id": "position-and-frame-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the location of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the location of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "position-and-frame-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the location of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "movement-and-transfer", "name": "Movement and transfer", "description": "How a Snowy Owl moves on its own.", "findings": [ { "id": "movement-events", "name": "Movement events and constraints", "description": "What counts as a movement, what records it and what limits it.", "questions": [ { "id": "movement-events-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the movement of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the movement of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "movement-events-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the movement of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "state-and-lifecycle", "name": "State and lifecycle", "description": "The states a Snowy Owl passes through and the events that move it between them.", "rationale": "Most decisions about a thing depend on what state it is in now, which is a claim with a time on it, not a property.", "layers": [ { "id": "lifecycle-stages", "name": "Lifecycle stages", "description": "From coming into existence to ceasing to be one of these.", "findings": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions", "name": "Stages and transitions", "description": "The stages worth naming and what moves a Snowy Owl between them.", "questions": [ { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the lifecycle of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the lifecycle of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "stages-and-transitions-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the lifecycle of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "observations-and-status", "name": "Observations and current status", "description": "What is observed about a Snowy Owl, how often and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "observation-record", "name": "Observation record", "description": "How an observation of a Snowy Owl is recorded so that it can be superseded rather than overwritten.", "questions": [ { "id": "observation-record-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes an observation of a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about an observation of a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "observation-record-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once an observation of a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "taxonomic-placement", "name": "Taxonomic placement and identification", "description": "What Snowy Owl is called scientifically, by whose authority, and how a specimen is recognised.", "rationale": "Names change with revisions while the organism does not, so a name without its authority and date cannot be reconciled later.", "layers": [ { "id": "accepted-name", "name": "Accepted name and synonymy", "description": "The current binomial, its author and date, and the names it replaced.", "findings": [ { "id": "name-and-authority", "name": "Accepted name, authority and synonyms", "description": "What to record so a later revision can be applied without losing the old data.", "questions": [ { "id": "name-and-authority-q01", "text": "What is the accepted scientific name of Snowy Owl, with its author and year, and which synonyms does it absorb?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "name-and-authority-q02", "text": "Which taxonomic authority is being followed, and what would a competing authority say?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] }, { "id": "field-identification", "name": "Field identification", "description": "The characters that separate Snowy Owl from what it is confused with.", "findings": [ { "id": "diagnostic-characters", "name": "Diagnostic characters and confusable kinds", "description": "Features that settle an identification, and those that only suggest it.", "questions": [ { "id": "diagnostic-characters-q01", "text": "Which observable characters distinguish Snowy Owl from its closest look-alikes, and at which life stage are they visible?", "kind": "boundary" }, { "id": "diagnostic-characters-q02", "text": "What evidence is enough to record an identification as confirmed rather than provisional?", "kind": "provenance" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "life-cycle-and-condition", "name": "Life stages, condition and behaviour", "description": "What Snowy Owl does over its life and how its state is judged.", "rationale": "Stage and condition change what may be done - handled, treated, harvested, left alone - and both are observations with a time.", "layers": [ { "id": "stages-and-reproduction", "name": "Stages and reproduction", "description": "Development from origin to death, including forms that look like different animals.", "findings": [ { "id": "life-stages", "name": "Life stages and their marks", "description": "The stages worth recording and what tells them apart.", "questions": [ { "id": "life-stages-q01", "text": "What stages does Snowy Owl pass through, and what observable change marks each transition?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "life-stages-q02", "text": "Which stages are so unlike the adult that they are mistaken for another kind?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "health-and-condition", "name": "Health and condition", "description": "How condition is assessed and by whom.", "findings": [ { "id": "condition-assessment", "name": "Condition assessment", "description": "Signs of health, injury and stress, and who is competent to judge them.", "questions": [ { "id": "condition-assessment-q01", "text": "How is the condition of Snowy Owl judged, on what scale, and by whom?", "kind": "measurement" }, { "id": "condition-assessment-q02", "text": "What condition obliges an agent to act, and what act is permitted to whom?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "range-and-status", "name": "Habitat, range and conservation status", "description": "Where Snowy Owl lives and how threatened it is.", "rationale": "Range and status govern what is lawful, and both are assessments with an assessor and a year rather than facts of nature.", "layers": [ { "id": "habitat-and-range", "name": "Habitat and range", "description": "Native range, introductions and the habitat it needs.", "findings": [ { "id": "range-record", "name": "Range, introductions and habitat", "description": "What to record about where it is found and how it got there.", "questions": [ { "id": "range-record-q01", "text": "What is the native range of Snowy Owl, where has it been introduced, and what habitat does it require?", "kind": "definition" }, { "id": "range-record-q02", "text": "What distinguishes a native record from an introduced or vagrant one?", "kind": "boundary" } ] } ] }, { "id": "protection-status", "name": "Protection and legal status", "description": "Conservation assessments and the rules that follow from them.", "findings": [ { "id": "status-and-rules", "name": "Conservation status and legal consequence", "description": "The assessment, its date, and what it forbids or requires where.", "questions": [ { "id": "status-and-rules-q01", "text": "What conservation status does Snowy Owl hold, under which assessment and year?", "kind": "provenance" }, { "id": "status-and-rules-q02", "text": "What does that status forbid or require of an agent, and in which jurisdiction?", "kind": "action" } ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "provenance-and-evidence", "name": "Provenance, evidence and time", "description": "Where every claim about a Snowy Owl came from and when it held.", "rationale": "A claim without a source and a time cannot be superseded, only overwritten, and an agent that overwrites loses the ability to explain itself.", "layers": [ { "id": "source-and-authority", "name": "Source and authority", "description": "Who said it, on what evidence, and how strongly.", "findings": [ { "id": "claim-provenance", "name": "Claim provenance and confidence", "description": "The authority behind each claim about a Snowy Owl and how confident it is.", "questions": [ { "id": "claim-provenance-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes a claim about a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about a claim about a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "claim-provenance-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once a claim about a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] }, { "id": "time-and-versions", "name": "Time, versions and supersession", "description": "When a claim was true, when it was learnt, and what replaced it.", "findings": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession", "name": "Validity period and supersession", "description": "How an old claim about a Snowy Owl is retired without being erased.", "questions": [ { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q01", "text": "What identifies and describes the validity of a claim about a Snowy Owl, and in what units or vocabulary?", "kind": "definition", "answer_data": [ "identifiers", "types and classes", "values with units", "explicit unknowns" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q02", "text": "Who or what asserted this about the validity of a claim about a Snowy Owl, by which method, and when was it true?", "kind": "provenance", "answer_data": [ "authority", "method", "evidence", "event time", "knowledge time" ] }, { "id": "validity-and-supersession-q03", "text": "What may an agent decide or do once the validity of a claim about a Snowy Owl is known, and what must it refuse?", "kind": "action", "answer_data": [ "permitted actions", "preconditions", "refusals", "escalation" ] } ] } ] } ] } ] }, "statistics": { "bundles": 8, "layers": 17, "findings": 19, "questions": 51 } } } }