Tuesday 18 June
Blakiston's fish owl (Ketupa blakistoni)
ENDANGEREDBlakiston's fish owl fact file
- Description
- Biology
- Range
- Habitat
- Status
- Threats
- Conservation
- Find out more
- Glossary
- References
- Print factsheet
Blakiston's fish owl description
| Kingdom | Animalia |
| Phylum | Chordata |
| Class | Aves |
| Order | Strigiformes |
| Family | Strigidae |
| Genus | Ketupa (1) |
Blakiston’s fish owl is a large eagle owl, with a wingspan that can reach up to two metres long (4). The wings are dark brown with tawny bars whilst the rest of the upper-body is a paler brown colour (2). The facial disc is greyish and these birds can be distinguished by their characteristically long ear tufts (2). The bill is grey with a yellowish tip (2).
- Spanish
- Búho Manchú.
- Size
- Length: 60 – 72 cm (2)
More »
Top
Related species
Blakiston's fish owl biology
Pairs of Blakiston’s fish owl mate for life and occupy distinct territories within their forest habitat. In late February and early March, nests begin to be constructed in the hollows of large trees (5). The female lays a clutch of around two eggs, which she then incubates over the 35 days it takes for her offspring to hatch. During this time the male will guard her and provide food (5). Once the chicks have hatched they will remain with their parents for a further 1.5 months (5).
Blakiston’s fish owl is a specialised feeder on aquatic prey such as fish, amphibians and even small mammals. Prey are often seized by walking through the shallows; these birds spend such long periods of time on the ground that they make trails along the riverbank (4).
TopBlakiston's fish owl range
Blakiston’s fish owl is found in Siberia, northeast China and the island of Hokkaido in Japan (2).
More »
Top
Species with a similar range
Blakiston's fish owl habitat
These owls are found in old, dense forests along the banks of large rivers (2). In the north of its range, rocky coastline is also inhabited (4).
More »
Top
Species found in a similar habitat
Blakiston's fish owl status
Blakiston’s fish owl is classified as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List (1), and listed on Appendix II of CITES (3).
Blakiston's fish owl threats
Habitat loss is the major cause of the decline in Blakiston’s fish owl numbers that has been documented throughout its range (5). Logging of these old forests has been rife and continues to threaten remaining populations today. These owls are targeted by hunters in Russia as they are believed to spoil the fur of trapped animals (5). The depletion of fish numbers through overfishing is also a pertinent threat to this bird of prey (5).
TopBlakiston's fish owl conservation
Blakiston’s fish owl is legally protected in all of the countries within which it is found, and occurs within a number of protected areas (2). On Hokkaido, nest boxes and supplementary feeding regimes have been in place since 1984 and a captive breeding and release programme is also underway (5). Without the provision of adequate habitat, however, these measures are ultimately ineffective (5). It has been suggested that a National Park should be created in northern Russia which could help to secure some of the habitat in this region (5).
|
View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre. |
Find out more
For more information on the Blakiston’s fish owl see:
-
BirdLife International - Blakiston’s fish owl:
www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=2229&m=0 - BirdLife International (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
Authentication
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Glossary
- Territories
- Areas occupied and defended by an animal, a pair of animals or a colony.
References
-
IUCN Red List (May, 2008)
http://www.iucnredlist.org -
BirdLife International (May, 2008)
http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=2229&m=0 -
CITES (August, 2003)
http://www.cites.org -
Hawk Conservancy (August, 2003)
http://www.hawk-conservancy.org/priors/blakistonsfishowl.shtml - BirdLife International. (2001) Threatened Birds of Asia: the BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, UK.
More »Related species
Sign up to our newsletter
Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.
Get involved
ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!
Saturday 15 June
Saturday 15 June
X
Close
Close
Image credit
Blakiston's fish owl, perched on branch at night
© David Tipling / www.flpa-images.co.uk
FLPA - images of nature
Pages Green House
Wetheringsett
Stowmarket
Suffolk IP14 5QA
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1728 861 113
Fax: +44 (0) 1728 860 222
pictures@flpa-images.co.uk
http://www.flpa-images.co.uk
X
Close
Close
Link to this photo
Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.
Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.
Read more about
X
Close
Close
MyARKive
MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.
X
Close
Close
Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials
Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.
Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:
- view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
- download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
- teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.
End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.
Additional use of flagged material
Green flagged material 
Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.
Creative commons material
Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.
Any other use
Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.
Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.