English:  Ural Owl, Ural Wood Owl
Russian: Длиннохвостая неясыть
Mongolian: Хув ууль, Хув бэгбаатар
German: Habichtskauz
French: Chouette de l’Oural
Japanese: フクロウ (Fukuro)

Body length: 50-59cm
Wing span: 103-124 cm

Resident in old boreal forests interspersed with bogs, often also open water, clearfellings and small fields. In S Europe also mountain forests, beech woods. Food voles, frogs and insects (taken after watch from low perch), but is strongly built and takes also a variety of birds (incl. other owl!) Nests in tree trunk (‘chimney’), nestbox or abandoned raptor’s nest. Caution: Very aggressive when young about to leave nest and can attack intruder fiercely; keep your eyes fixed on the parents if you stumble on an inhabited nest, and leave area quickly!

Identification: Medium-large, head rounded, tail long and rather wedge-shaped (noticeable in flight); wings rounded. Flight direct, purposeful, recalling Common Buzzard. Plumage pale buffish grey-brown (paler than Tawny), streaked darker brown; in brief encounters, paleness usually best clue. Eyes black, stand out well on plain buffish-grey facial discs. Bill yellowish. Upperwing evenly barred dark, lacking conspicuous pale patch on inner primaries of Great Grey Owl and Short-eared Owl. Uppertail evenly and boldly barred dark (cf. Great Grey).