Name:Strix aluco
Alias:Strix aluco,Tawny Owl
Outline:Bird of prey
Family:Strigiformes Owl
length:37-48cm
Weight:322-909g
Life:5-27years
IUCN:LC
Tawny Owl, also known as Tawny Owl, is a medium-sized owl with 11 subspecies.
Tawny Owls often move in pairs or alone. It is nocturnal, hiding in dense forests during the day, perching motionlessly and upright on thick branches close to tree trunks with dense branches and leaves. It only comes out to move and hunt at dusk and at night, and sometimes comes out to move in the dark daytime and deep in the woods. It mainly feeds on rodents, but also eats small birds, frogs, small mammals and insects, and occasionally preys on fish in the water. In cities, the gray owl mainly preys on other birds. The main hunting method is to wait on the branches, and when the prey appears, it swoops down from a high place to catch the prey. The gray owl usually swallows the prey whole and spits out the indigestible parts, such as hair and bones, and uses them as nests under the tree. At night, the gray owl can catch smaller owls, but young gray owls may be hunted by eagle owls, goshawks or foxes. The gray owl can make a cooing sound. The calls of male birds reflect their health and energy: when they use less high frequencies, they show that they have a higher bloodworm load; if they use a more limited frequency, it means that they regard the other party as an intruder.
The breeding season of the gray forest owl is from January to April of the following year. It mainly nests in tree holes, sometimes on the ground under rocks or in crow nests. Each nest lays 1-8 eggs, usually 2-4. The size of the eggs is 46-49 mm × 39-42 mm. The female bird incubates the eggs, and the incubation period is 28-30 days. The chicks are altricial and can fly after 29-37 days of feeding by the parents. The chicks will leave the nest before they grow feathers. The survival rate of chicks is unknown, but the annual survival rate of adults is 76.8%. The average lifespan of the gray forest owl is about 5 years, but wild and captive gray forest owls have been found to be over 18 and 27 years old respectively.
The Tawny Owl has a wide distribution range and is not close to the vulnerable and endangered critical value standard for species survival (distribution area or fluctuation range less than 20,000 square kilometers, habitat quality, population size, and fragmented distribution area). The population trend is stable, so it is evaluated as a species of least concern.
On December 14, 2021, staff from the Jiuyishan National Nature Reserve Management Bureau in Hunan Province recently analyzed the data from 60 infrared cameras in the reserve and found 13 species of national key protected wild animals, including the first discovery of the national second-level protected animals, the Chinese Serow and the Gray Owl.
Listed in the 2014 Red List of Endangered Species of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) ver 3.1 - Least Concern (LC).
Listed in the "National Key Protected Wildlife List" issued by the Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Agriculture of China on January 14, 1989 as a Class II protected animal.
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