NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Boreal Owl
Aegolius funereus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
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.
Scientific name: Aegolius funereus Original file: parluggla_p8962
Stefan Berndtsson · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 320 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The boreal owl or Tengmalm's owl (Aegolius funereus) is a small owl in the "true owl" family Strigidae. It is known as the boreal owl or, more rarely, Richardson's owl after Sir John Richardson, in North America, and as Tengmalm's owl in Europe and Asia, after the Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm.
Due to its nocturnal habits and preferred inaccessible taiga forest habitat, it is rarely seen by humans; when met with, it is often extremely confident, showing little or no fear of people, only flying off if approached to within 3–5 metres.
Wikipedia contributors, Boreal owl; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:55:42.497551+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Aegolius funereus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Boreal Owl
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Strigiformes
- Family
- Strigidae
- Genus
- Aegolius
- 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
- subfamilySurniinae
- genusAegolius Kaup, 1829
- speciesAegolius funereus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Aegolius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Buff-fronted OwlAegolius harrisii (Cassin, 1849) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus (J. F. Gmelin, 1788) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Unspotted Saw-whet OwlAegolius ridgwayi (Alfaro, 1905) | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Bermuda Saw-whet OwlAegolius gradyi Olson, 2012 | StrigidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extinct |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Strix funerea Linnaeus, 1758 Linnaeus, 1758 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
North America
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=177938 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:658RG. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.