📸 PhotoPhoto: Tatiana Bulyonkova from Novosibirsk, Russia · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Ural Owl
Strix uralensis (Ural Owl · フクロウ)
🇰🇷 Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its body length of 0.62 m is about the length of two 30 cm student rulers placed end to end (Comparison).
- 💡 Its wingspan of 1.35 m is much longer than a 1 m ruler (Comparison).
- 💡 Because it sometimes nests in farmhouse barns, it occasionally breeds close to human dwellings.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
The Ural Owl is a large owl living in the forests of northern Eurasia, and is a rare resident bird in Korea.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Its pale buff-brown feathers are dotted with white spots at the tips.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It preys on rodents, insectivores, small birds, and insects. It reuses old nests built by buzzards or goshawks and sometimes breeds in farmhouse barns or cliff cavities, laying 2–4 eggs.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
In Korea, it is a Class II endangered wildlife (Korea) and a rare resident bird frequently observed in Gangwon-do and Gyeonggi-do. Due to habitat loss and fragmentation from forest development, it is assessed as Endangered (EN) on the National Red List of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2021) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22689108/199908915
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅱ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000001862 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000001862
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • Korean protection status: Class II endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 199908915
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000001862 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000001862
- • wikidata.org — Q190083
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:2012-11-01 Ural Owl, Novosibirsk Oblast, Russia.jpg
- • nie.re.kr — view.do
- • species.nibr.go.kr — redlist view.jsp
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Sharon Wegner-Larsen · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Tyto alba)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.