Ural Owl

Strix uralensis

Defends its nest by attacking humans. Photographers wear hard hats — and so should you.

Population: approximately 640,000-1,052,000 mature individuals (global), per BirdLife/IUCN assessment; consistent with Cornell Birds of the World's independent figure of the same range
Habitat: mature taiga, mixed coniferous, and temperate deciduous forest, typically with clearings/meadows for hunting and snags/stumps for perching and nesting; generally avoids heavily fragmented woodland
Fun fact: Despite being an owl, the Ural Owl is often active by day as well as night (cathemeral/crepuscular rather than strictly nocturnal), and it is notorious among field researchers for extremely aggressive nest defense - the Swedish name Slaguggla ("attacking owl") reflects females striking intruders from behind with claws at speeds up to ~40 km/h, hard enough to draw blood.
Range: Eurosiberian Palearctic, from Scandinavia, central Europe (incl. the Carpathians) and northern Italy across Russia to Sakhalin and Japan
Diet: small mammals (chiefly voles, field mice, and other rodents, ~50-95% of diet across >200 documented prey species), supplemented regionally by hares, birds (up to ~40% by mass in low-rodent years), and invertebrates
Size: 0.57 m
Wingspan: 1.2 m
Lifespan: 24 years

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