![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632036-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01284857-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nThe Ural owl lives in mature deciduous and mixed forests in northern Europe from Scandinavia to Japan and is\u00a0named for the mountains that cross its range. Despite being a primarily forest-dwelling bird, the Ural owl sometimes hunts in open habitats, where prey such as voles and\u00a0other rodents abound. In late winter the females are observed more often, because they are active building up enough fat\u00a0reserves for nesting, when they can lose up to a third of their body weight.<\/p>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632011-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632007-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632015-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nSnow can conceal prey like voles, but such protection is no match for the owls\u2019 hunting adaptations. Heightened\u00a0vision allows them to spot movement, while their satellite-dish faces channel sounds to their super-sensitive ears. Ural owls are dietary generalists, although their diet mainly consists of small rodents such as voles, particularly in winter. They have been observed eating frogs in spring.<\/p>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632004-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614841-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nIn Estonia, Ural owls prefer old growth forests that are surrounded by uncultivated open fields or smaller\u00a0clear-cut areas.\u00a0In larger forest areas, the owls make do with a few roads and ditches to break up the forest landscape,\u00a0and provide hunting grounds.\u00a0The Ural owl is nocturnal, with peaks of activity at dawn and dusk. It roosts during the day in the cover of trees.<\/p>\n
![\"Male](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01519090-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Male")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01585354-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nFinding a Mate<\/h3>\n
Males claim territories by calling from different perches, and during\u00a0courtship may be heard dueting with their mates. The mating rituals of the owls last for a long time. Anything from\u00a0two weeks to a month is a reasonable period for choosing a mate for a new breeding season. The male and female look for a suitable nest site together,\u00a0where the female can lay her eggs.\u00a0Once a nest has been\u00a0found, the female stops feeding herself and lets the male do the work. She is testing both his hunting capabilities and\u00a0the abundance of food. These factors ultimately determine how many eggs she will lay.<\/p>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632016-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614923-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nNesting<\/h3>\n
Nest sites include tree cavities, hollow trunks and rock depressions. Ural owls have also been known to use the abandoned stick nests of larger birds as well as squirrel dreys.\u00a0Incubation duties fall solely on the female. Depending on food supply, she may lay between 1 and 7 eggs, which\u00a0will be incubated for about a month before they hatch.<\/p>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614844-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632028-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nIt’s not always plain sailing – storms and unseasonable weather can cause serious problems.\u00a0\u00a0During an extremely hot spring, when temperatures rose to over 30\u00b0<\/strong>C and stayed there for almost two weeks,\u00a0a female Ural owl nesting out in the open was forced to abandon her egg (above left). An\u00a0aspen tree, which contained the nest of a Ural owl, was felled by a storm (above right).<\/p>\n During nesting the female completely relies on the male to provide food. Initially, there is\u00a0only one mouth to feed, but later the female will need enough for the nestlings too.\u00a0Each male is different. Some only feed their mates in complete darkness, others have more\u00a0flexible schedules.<\/p>\n After sitting on the nest for a full month with only a few minutes of stretching time per day, the females\u2019 eggs\u00a0begin to hatch, welcoming new life into the nest.\u00a0Ural owl mothers are extremely protective of their young. Females can strike a human intruder with considerable force. Males play only a minor role in nest defence.<\/p>\n The chicks leave the nest when they are about a month old. They are cared for and fed by both parents for about two months after leaving the nest.\u00a0A female preens her owlet\u2019s head while the youngster relieves itself. Afterwards, the adult bird took off and the\u00a0branch bounced, causing the owlet to lose its balance.\u00a0The owlet found itself upside down, gripping the branch with its talons. It took 15 minutes and a lot of wing\u00a0flapping before the young owl was facing the right way again.<\/p>\n The owlets jump to the ground before they can fly, and that makes them vulnerable. In order to avoid ground\u00a0predators, they have to climb trees.\u00a0This owlet was attempting to scale an aspen tree, but even with its formidable beak and talons, the bark was too\u00a0slippery for it get a decent grip. After trying for half an hour, it gave up and went in search of another tree to climb.<\/p>\n Nestlings can fly fairly well at about 45 days, and reach sexual maturity before they are 1 year old.\u00a0Due in part to its large range, the Ural owl is still common. However, population decreases have occurred in areas\u00a0where hollow or broken trees have been removed.<\/p>\n – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n Sven Za\u010dek is a freelance\u00a0photographer who shoots\u00a0a wide range of subject\u00a0matter but is particularly\u00a0drawn to wildlife and landscapes. Since becoming a\u00a0photographer in 2005, he\u00a0has published seven books, written hundreds of articles, and given hundreds of workshops. He is the Editor-in-Chief and publisher of the Estonian nature photography magazine LoFo.<\/p>\n You can view a full gallery of Sven’s Ural owl images here<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614984-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614982-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614979-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nTeamwork<\/h3>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01614917-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632005-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632021-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632019-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632018-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nAcrobatics<\/h3>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01519062-470x470.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01595418-470x470.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01595417-470x470.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\nClimbing Practice<\/h3>\n
![\"Ural](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01632035-360x240.jpg\" "\\"Ural")
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n![\"Photographer](\"https:\/\/www.naturepl.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/01631995-300x200.jpg\")