Strix uralensis
Silhouette: Sharon Wegner-Larsen · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kazan | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 6 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Tokyo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ural Owl sighting in Moscow on a given day, based on 146 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 57th most-seen of the 171 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and November–March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ural Owl in Moscow on a given day, against under 5% in April–May and July–October, the lowest months.
Between 5 and 8 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ural Owl sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
6th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Ural Owl sightings, Moscow ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kazan (Russia, about 20%), Novosibirsk (Russia, about 20%) and Saint Petersburg (Russia, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ural Owl is recorded against all the birds logged in Moscow (146 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
