Or, perhaps more likely at that location, a Barn Owl? If you look at them
from the front, they're "white with a few dark speckles."

Hate to play the doubting thomas to what seems to be a clear ID, but I
know a few cases where non-birders have reported snowies that turned out
to be something else (even Red-tailed Hawks are sometimes reported as
snowy owls!). Seems clear cut to the experienced observer, but
it's not always to the beginner or non-birder. And emphatic pointing at a
field guide is not *always* a sign of a conclusive ID ;)

Christopher E. Hill
Department of Zoology
University of Washington
P. O. Box 351800
Seattle, WA 98195-1800
cehill at u.washington.edu

On Mon, 2 Feb 1998, James R Lyles III, Technical Editor, Tacoma, WA wrote:

>
>
> Dang! Snowy Owls have been scarce this winter in
> Washington. But this morning at least one of those
> Snowies was dead on the sidewalk in downtown Tacoma,
> according to my building's security man, who just told
> me this afternoon.
>
> The owl, which the security man described as a "beautiful
> big white owl," was picked up from the sidewalk to the north
> of my office building, the Wells Fargo building, on the
> 1200 block of Pacific Avenenue. When it was picked up
> at about 7:30 a.m. this morning, the security man said
> that he couldn't see any trauma marks on it.
>
> When I showed him the owl pictures in my National Geographic
> Society field guide, he emphatically pointed to the Snowy Owl
> illustrations--and to the adult at that. "It was white,
> with a few dark speckles on it," the security man said.
>
> Several other people also saw the bird.
>
> I tried to retrieve the carcass, but it had already gone
> through a compactor and had disappeared.
>
> Dang!
>
> --Jim Lyles, Tacoma
> <jrlyles at usgs.gov> or <jrlyles at eskimo.com>
>
>