Boreal owl

Adults weigh 137.2 g as a representative value, from 107 to 167 g, and the wingspan is 56 cm, from 50 to 62 cm. The IUCN Red List assesses it globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

Weight

107 g – 167 gsrc for Weight

Length

Not recorded

Wingspan

50 cm – 62 cmsrc for Wingspan

Lifespan

11 years – 15.9 yearssrc for Lifespan

Diet

Carnivoresrc for Diet

Main food

Not recorded

Habitat

forestsrc for Habitat

Egg incubation

27.8 dayssrc for Egg incubation

Young per litter or clutch

5.15src for Young per litter or clutch

Age at maturity

12 monthssrc for Age at maturity

Litters or clutches a year

1src for Litters or clutches a year

Active

At night (nocturnal)src for Active

Lifestyle

Perchingsrc for Lifestyle

Migration

Partialsrc for Migration

Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status

Countries on record

Not recorded

Not recorded

The boreal owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

1. LCLeast Concern
2. NTNear Threatened
3. VUVulnerable
4. ENEndangered
5. CRCritically Endangered
6. EWExtinct in the Wild
7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

1. kingdomAnimalia
2. phylumChordata
3. classAves
4. orderStrigiformes
5. familyStrigidae
6. genusAegolius
7. SpeciesAegolius funereus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Cryptoglaux funerea, Cryptoglaux tengmalmi, Glaux funerea, Glaux tengmalmi, Noctua temgmalmi, Nyctala tengmalmi, Strix funerea, Strix tengmalmi

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

CompareBoreal owl vs WhetsawBoreal owl vs Buff-fronted owlBoreal owl vs Unspotted saw-whet owlBoreal owl vs Bermuda saw-whet owl

• An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
  Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
• AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
  Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
• Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
  Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
• Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
  Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
• Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
• Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
  Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

@misc{boreal_owl_2026,
  title = {Boreal owl (Aegolius funereus)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/boreal-owl},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}