Ural Owl
Strix uralensis Pallas, 1771
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.

Ural Owl Strix uralensis, Kotka, Finland
Jyrki Salmi from Finland · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Ural owl (Strix uralensis) is a large nocturnal owl. It is a member of the true owl family, Strigidae. The Ural owl is a member of the genus Strix, that is also the origin of the family's name under Linnaean taxonomy. Both its common name and scientific name refer to the Ural Mountains of Russia where the type specimen was collected. However, this species has an extremely broad distribution that extends as far west as much of Scandinavia, montane eastern Europe, and, sporadically, central Europe, thence sweeping across the Palearctic broadly through Russia to as far east as Sakhalin and throughout Japan. The Ural owl may include up to 15 subspecies, but most likely the number may be slightly fewer if accounting for clinal variations. This forest owl is typical associated with the vast taiga forest in Eurosiberia, although it ranges to other forest types, including mixed forests and temperate deciduous forest.
Wikipedia contributors, Ural owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:40:46.615020+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Strix uralensis Pallas, 1771
- Name authority
- Pallas, 1771
- Common name
- Ural Owl
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Strix
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- subfamilyStriginae
- genusStrix Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesStrix uralensis Pallas, 1771
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Strix. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Rufous-banded OwlStrix albitarsis (Bonaparte, 1850) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Hume's OwlStrix butleri (Hume, 1878) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Fulvous OwlStrix fulvescens (P. L. Sclater & Salvin, 1868) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-and-white OwlStrix nigrolineata (P. L. Sclater, 1859) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Barred OwlStrix varia Barton, 1799 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African Wood OwlStrix woodfordii (A. Smith, 1834) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Maghreb OwlStrix mauritanica (Witherby, 1905) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Tawny OwlStrix aluco Linnaeus, 1758 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Chaco OwlStrix chacoensis Cherrie & Reichenberger, 1921 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Black-banded OwlStrix huhula Daudin, 1800 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Rusty-barred OwlStrix hylophila Temminck, 1825 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Himalayan OwlStrix nivicolum (Blyth, 1845) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=555433 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:532KQ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.