Blakiston's Fish Owl

Ecology / Habitat

 Blakiston's Fish Owl

  : Ketupa (Bubo) blakistoni blakistoni

  : Shima fukurou (Japanese)

  : Kotan koro Kamuy (Ainu)

 Status : 1A（CR Critically endangered）

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【Distribution】

 Hokkaido, Kunashiri Island and Sakhalin Island, Russia
(A separate subspecies lives in the Russian Far East.)
  Population in Hokkaido: 100 pairs of 200 birds (2022)

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【形態】

  Total length approx. 70 cm (66-69 cm)
  Wing span approx. 180 cm
  Weight male approx. 3200g, female approx. 4100g

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【Habitat】

  Mixture coniferous and broad-leaved forests along rivers, lakes, and coastal areas.

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【Diet】

  Their staple diet is fish, but they utilize a wide variety of prey animals depending on their habitat. They prey on frogs and other amphibians, flounder and other marine fish in habitats near the coast, and ducks in lakes and marshes.

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【Breeding】

  They use tree cavities in giant trees up to one meter in diameter as nests to raise one or two chicks. In the wild, however, they often breed only once every few years, so each breeding and each brood is extremely important.