Ural Owl

Ural Owl (Strix uralensis) is a large pale owl with a rounded head, small dark eyes, a long tail and heavily streaked underparts without visible ear tufts. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It inhabits mature forest across the Palearctic, hunting rodents, birds and other animals from perches at night and nesting in tree cavities, broken trunks or old raptor nests. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).