Northern hawk-owl

Surnia ulula (Linnaeus, 1758)

The northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula), also called the hawk owl, is a bird in the owl family Strigidae, subfamily Surniinae, within the order Strigiformes. It is a small owl with an adult body mass of 319.9 g, from 291.5 g to 332 g across sources, and a wingspan of 76 cm.

Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Krun assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the northern hawk-owl

This carnivore lives in grassland, has a perching lifestyle, is partially migratory and has a geographic range of 21,130,000 km². It lays 1 clutch per year of 7 eggs, incubated for 27.25 days, and is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, not a threatened category.

Weight: 291.5 g – 332 gsrc for Weight
Length: Not recorded
Wingspan: 76 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan: 10 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet: Carnivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan: 16.2 years
Main food: Not recorded
Habitat: grasslandsrc for Habitat
Egg incubation: 27.3 dayssrc for Egg incubation
Young per litter or clutch: 7 – 7.7src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity: 11.9 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year: 1src for Litters or clutches a year
Lifestyle: Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration: Partialsrc for Migration
Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record: Not recorded

How big is the northern hawk-owl?

At 76 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the northern hawk-owl is about 45% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Photos of the northern hawk-owl

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) — Bouke ten Cate · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the northern hawk-owl live?

Not recorded

What is the northern hawk-owl?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula), is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes. It is non-migratory and usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owls that is not strictly nocturnal nor crepuscular, often being active during the day. This is the only living species in the genus Surnia of the family Strigidae, the "typical" owls (as opposed to barn owls, Tytonidae). The species is sometimes called simply the hawk owl; however, many species of owls in the genus Ninox are also called "hawk owls".

From the Wikipedia article “Northern hawk-owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Northern_hawk-owl&oldid=1380698456), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the northern hawk-owl endangered?

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

LCLeast Concern
NTNear Threatened
VUVulnerable
ENEndangered
CRCritically Endangered
EWExtinct in the Wild
EXExtinct

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

How is the northern hawk-owl classified?

kingdomAnimalia
phylumChordata
classAves
orderStrigiformes
familyStrigidae
genusSurnia
SpeciesSurnia ulula (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms Strix ulula, Stryx doliata, Surnia funerea, Surnia ulula pallasi

Other names and names in other languages (81)

Hawk owlEnglish
Hawk owlEnglish
Northern hawk owlEnglish
بومة الصقرArabic
بومة الصقر الشماليةArabic
Surnia acuruxaAsturian
Ҡарсыға ябалаҡBashkir
Сава-бярозаўкаBelarusian
Ястребова соваBulgarian
Kaouenn an taigaBreton
mussol esparverencCatalan
Хурчка тӑманиChuvash
sovice krahujováCzech
gwalchdylluanWelsh
HøgeugleDanish
Owl HøgeugleDanish
SperbereuleGerman
ΓερακόγλαυκαGreek
NizostrigoEsperanto
norda nizostrigoEsperanto
Búho GavilánSpanish
Cárabo gavilánSpanish
Cárabos GavilánSpanish
Lechuza gavilanaSpanish
vöötkakkEstonian
Hontz gabiraiBasque
جغد شاهینی شمالیPersian
hiiripöllöFinnish
HeykuglaFaroese
Surnie épervièreFrench
chouette épervièreFrench
Épervière boréaleFrench
Ulchabhán seabhaicIrish
Ulchabhán seabhaic donnIrish
Hawk-OwlScottish Gaelic
seabhag-fheasgairScottish Gaelic
seabhag-oidhcheScottish Gaelic
seabhagan-feasgairScottish Gaelic
seabhagan-oidhcheScottish Gaelic
Curuxa gabiánGalician
Seabhag oidhcheManx
כוס ניציHebrew
sjeverna sovaCroatian
karvalybagolyHungarian
HaukuglaIcelandic
UlulaItalian
オナガフクロウJapanese
Қаршыға жапалақKazakh
Қаршығарең жапалақKazakh
긴꼬리올빼미Korean
Лун сюзьKomi
Shawk ny hoieCornish
Gesträiften EilLuxembourgish
raiboji pelėdaLithuanian
svītrainā pūceLatvian
тумнаварашMari
Харсун бэгбаатарMongolian
Néʼéshjaaʼ bíńdáhiiNavajo
SperweruilDutch
haukugleNorwegian
sowa jarzębataPolish
mocho-gaviãoPortuguese
Coruja-gaviãoPortuguese
mocho-rabilongoPortuguese
CiuhurezRomanian
Ястребиная соваRussian
Сирин ястребиныйRussian
Северная ястребиная соваRussian
Тойон мэкчиргэYakut
SáhpánskuolfiNorthern Sami
bigánNorthern Sami
skutnjaloddiNorthern Sami
krahuľa hôrnaSlovak
skobčja sovaSlovenian
ЈастребачаSerbian
JastrebačaSerbian
hökugglaSwedish
Atmaca BaykuşuTurkish
сова яструбинаUkrainian
猛鴞Chinese
猛鸮Chinese

Catalogue of Life Wikipedia iNaturalist TAXREF Wikidata WoRMS IUCN Red List

Relatives of the northern hawk-owl

Other species in the same genus Surnia.

Surnia robusta

StrigidaeNo free photo yet

CompareNorthern hawk-owl vs Surnia robusta

Common questions

Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.

What kind of animal is the northern hawk-owl?

The northern hawk-owl is a bird, an owl in the family Strigidae and the order Strigiformes.

How heavy is the northern hawk-owl?

The northern hawk-owl has an adult body mass of 319.9 g, with reported values from 291.5 g to 332 g. Its wingspan is 76 cm.

What does the northern hawk-owl eat?

The northern hawk-owl is a carnivore.

What habitat does the northern hawk-owl live in?

The northern hawk-owl lives in grassland and has a perching lifestyle. It is partially migratory.

Is the northern hawk-owl endangered?

No. The northern hawk-owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

How long does the northern hawk-owl live?

The northern hawk-owl has a lifespan of 10 years, with values up to 16.17 years reported.

How many eggs does the northern hawk-owl lay?

The northern hawk-owl lays 7 eggs per clutch, with values up to 7.7 reported, and has 1 clutch per year. Incubation lasts 27.25 days.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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).

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-hawk-owl

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BibTeX

@misc{northern_hawk_owl_2026,
  title = {Northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/northern-hawk-owl},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}