Ural wood owl
The Ural owl (Strix uralensis ) is a large nocturnal owl. It is a member of the true owl family, Strigidae. The Ural owl is a member of the genus Strix, that is also the origin of the family’s name under Linnaean taxonomy. Both its common name and scientific name refer to the Ural Mountains of Russia where the type specimen was collected. However, this species has an extremely broad distribution that extends as far west as much of Scandinavia, montane eastern Europe, and, sporadically, central Europe, thence sweeping across the Palearctic broadly through Russia to as far east as Sakhalin and throughout Japan. The Ural owl may include up to 15 subspecies, but most likely the number may be slightly fewer if accounting for clinal variations.
This forest owl is typical associated with the vast taiga forest in Eurosiberia, although it ranges to other forest types, including mixed forests and temperate deciduous forest. The Ural owl is something of a dietary generalist like many members of the Strix genus, but it is usually locally reliant on small mammals, especially small rodents such as voles. In terms of its reproductive habits, Ural owls tend to vigorously protect a set territory on which they have historically nested on a variety of natural nest sites, including tree cavities and stumps and nests originally built by other birds but now, in many parts of the range are adapted to nest boxes made by biologists and conservationists. Breeding success is often strongly correlated with prey populations. The Ural owl is considered to be a stable bird species overall, with a conservation status per the IUCN as a least concern species. Despite some local decreases and extinctions, the Ural owl has been aided in central Europe by reintroductions.
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NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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CathemeralCathemerality, sometimes called metaturnality, is the behavior in which an organism has sporadic and random intervals of activity during the day or...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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ArborealArboreal locomotion is the locomotion of animals in trees. In habitats in which trees are present, animals have evolved to move in them. Some anima...
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GlidingGliding flight is heavier-than-air flight without the use of thrust and is employed by gliding animals. Birds in particular use gliding flight to m...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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Ambush predatorAmbush predators are carnivorous animals that capture or trap prey by stealth, luring, or by (typically instinctive) strategies utilizing an elemen...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
A territory is a sociographical area that which an animal consistently defends against the conspecific competition (or, occasionally, against anima...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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Generally solitaryGenerally solitary animals are those animals that spend their time separately but will gather at foraging areas or sleep in the same location or sh...
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Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
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starts withThe Ural owl is a fairly large nocturnal bird of prey. Both its common name and scientific name refer to the Ural Mountains of Russia where this bird was collected. The Ural owl has a broad, rounded head with a correspondingly round facial disc, barring a tiny V-shaped indentation. The bird has an exceptionally long tail that bears a wedge-shaped tip. In color, this owl tends to be a plain pale greyish-brown to whitish overall, with a slightly darker grey-brown to brown back and mantle with contrasting whitish markings. The underparts are pale cream-ochre to grey-brown and are boldly overlaid with dark brown streaking, without crossbars. In flight, the Ural owl shows a largely buffish-white underwing marked with heavy dark bars around the trailing edge and tip, while the long white-tipped tail often appears slung downwards.
Ural owls have an extremely broad distribution. It extends as far west as much of Scandinavia, montane eastern Europe, and, sporadically, central Europe through Russia to as far east as Sakhalin and throughout Japan. These birds tend to occur in mature but not too dense primary forest, which can variously be in coniferous, mixed, or deciduous areas. Normally, they prefer to be close to an opening. These often include forest bogs with the wet ground underfoot, overgrown by a mixture of spruce, alder, and/or birch or damp heathland with scattered trees.
Ural owls are often considered nocturnal with peaks of activity at dusk and just before dawn. However, since they mainly live in the taiga zone where very long summer days are the norm against extensive dark during the winter, Ural owls are often fully active during daylight hours during the warmer months, while brooding young. Presumably during winter, they are mostly active during the night. Thus, the species may be more correctly classified as cathemeral as is much of their main prey. During the day, Ural owls may take rests on a roost, which is most typically a branch close to the trunk of a tree or in dense foliage. They are highly territorial and residential birds that tend to stay on the same home range throughout the year. Territories are generally maintained with songs, most often uttered by the male of the resident pair. Ural owls do most of their hunting from a perch. They usually prefer prey that comes into open spots of the forest rather than those that frequent the forest floor. These birds never attack prey from an active flight, instead nearly always dropping down on it directly from their perch. Ural owls have a wide range of calls; however, despite that, these birds are generally very quiet and may not vocalize even at peak times for perhaps up to nearly 2 days. The song of the male is a deep rhythmic series of notes, variously transcribed as 'wihu huw-huhuwo or huow-huow-huow'. The female has a similar but hoarser and slightly higher pitched song, giving it a more "barking" quality. Not infrequently, Ural owls will duet during courtship. In addition, a deep, hoarse heron-like 'kuwat' or 'korrwick' is probably used as a contact call.
Ural owls are carnivores and mostly prefer to take small prey, especially small mammals. Their diet uncludes various species of rodent, shrews, moles, any variety of small mammal, to the size of hares, as well as variable numbers of birds, amphibians and invertebrates. Rarely they may take reptiles and fish.
Ural owls are monogamous; pairs usually mate for life and maintain a territory for several years. Potential nesting sites include large natural holes in trees, cavities left by a large branch that have broken off, hollow trunks where canopies have been broken off, or fissures. These birds may also nest in holes in cliffs or between rocks and holes in buildings. Females lay a clutch of 3-4 pure white and quite rounded eggs. The egg-laying dates vary with location; in Fennoscandia it occurs between mid-March and late April. In montane Slovenia, it is slightly later in late March into early June. The eggs are laid directly to the bottom of the nesting surface in roughly 2-day intervals. Incubation lasts for 28 to 35 days done by the females alone. The chick hatch covered in white dawn; at the stage when they typically leave the nest the downy is pale dirty whitish and barred with greyish-brown on head, nape, mantle, and underparts. Owlets leave the nest at about 35 days old and can fly at 45 days. However, they are still fed and cared for by their parents an additional 2 months or so after leaving the nests. The young Ural owls usually reach reproductive maturity in the year after independence.
In recent history, most decreases in the Ural owl population have been caused due to removing of hollow and broken trees from forests. Occasionally, these birds are vulnerable to flying into manmade objects. Many such mortalities are due to wire collisions and electrocutions, which are likely increase especially as populations expand and move into areas closer to human habitations. Other collision kills, such as with glass buildings and, widely, with various automobiles, may too potentially be on the increase.
According to the IUCN Red List the total Ural owl population size is approximately 396,000-1,140,000 mature individuals. The European population is estimated at 50,000-143,000 pairs, which equates to 99,900-286,000 mature individuals. Overall, currently this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List and its numbers today are stable.