Tawny owl
Strix aluco Linnaeus, 1758
The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a bird in the owl subgroup, belonging to the family Strigidae, subfamily Striginae, in the order Strigiformes. It falls in the small size class, with a representative adult body mass of 472.5 g, reported values from 426 g to 524 g, and a wingspan of 99 cm.
Quick facts about the tawny owl
It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and it has a clutch size of 3.1 with 1 clutch per year.
- Weight
- 426 g – 524 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 99 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 21.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 22.4 years
- Main food
- vertebratessrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 29.7 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.1 – 3.2src 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
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Sedentarysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the tawny owl?
Photos of the tawny owl
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
.jpg){kind=link}
_2019.jpg){kind=link}
Where does the tawny owl live?
Not recorded
What is the tawny owl?
The tawny owl (Strix aluco), also called the brown owl, is a stocky, medium-sized owl in the family Strigidae. It is commonly found in woodlands across Europe, as well as western Siberia, and has seven recognized subspecies. The tawny owl's underparts are pale with dark streaks, whilst its upper body may be either brown or grey (in several subspecies, individuals may be of both colours). The tawny owl typically makes its nest in a tree hole where it can protect its eggs and young against potential predators. It is non-migratory and highly territorial: as a result, when young birds grow up and leave the parental nest, if they cannot find a vacant territory to claim as their own, they will often starve.
The tawny owl is a nocturnal bird of prey. It is able to hunt successfully at night because of its vision, hearing adaptations and ability to fly silently. It usually hunts by dropping suddenly from a perch and seizing its prey, which it swallows whole. Its typical prey are rodents, although in urbanised areas its diet includes a higher proportion of birds. It also sometimes catches smaller owls, and is itself sometimes hunted by the eagle owl and the Eurasian goshawk.
Its retina is no more sensitive than a human's. Its directional hearing skill is more important to its hunting success: its ears are asymmetrically placed, which enables it to more precisely pinpoint the location from which a sound originates.
The tawny owl holds a place in human folklore: because it is active at night and has what many humans experience as a haunting call, people have traditionally associated it with bad omens and death. Not all owl species make a hooting sound. The double hoot, the tawny owl's prototypical call, is a call and response between a male and a female.
From the Wikipedia article “Tawny owl” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tawny_owl&oldid=1383178159), 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.
What does the tawny owl sound like?
Is the tawny owl endangered?
The tawny 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 tawny owl classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderStrigiformes
- familyStrigidae
- genusStrix
- SpeciesStrix aluco Linnaeus, 1758
Synonyms Strix haeluco, Strix stridula, Syrnium stridulum
Other names and names in other languages (101)
- بوم أسمرArabic
- البومة السمراءArabic
- بومة سمراءArabic
- gárabuAsturian
- CoruxhuAsturian
- Adi yapalaqcaAzerbaijani
- Һоро ябалаҡBashkir
- Шэрая кугакаўкаBelarusian
- Горска улулицаBulgarian
- Kaouenn penn tevBreton
- Kaouenn penn-tevBreton
- GamarúsCatalan
- gamarús euroasiàticCatalan
- Вӑрман тӑманиChuvash
- Вăрман тăманиChuvash
- puštík obecnýCzech
- tylluan frechWelsh
- Tylluanod BrychWelsh
- NatugleDanish
- WaldkauzGerman
- ΧουχουριστήςGreek
- Κοινός ΧουχουριστήςGreek
- (Κοινός) ΧουχουριστήςGreek
- ArbarstrigoEsperanto
- arbara strigoEsperanto
- CáraboSpanish
- Cárabo comúnSpanish
- MochueloSpanish
- kodukakkEstonian
- UrubiaBasque
- Urubi arruntBasque
- جغد جنگلیPersian
- lehtopöllöFinnish
- MúsagjóFaroese
- músagjóðFaroese
- Chat-huantFrench
- Chouette hulotteFrench
- KautsNorthern Frisian
- Ulchabhán fásaighIrish
- bodach oidhcheScottish Gaelic
- bodaich-oidhcheScottish Gaelic
- cailleach oidhcheScottish Gaelic
- cailleachan oidhcheScottish Gaelic
- Comhachag dhonnScottish Gaelic
- AvelaionaGalician
- Hullad ghoneManx
- לילית מצויהHebrew
- macskabagolyHungarian
- ԱնտառաբուArmenian
- Burung hantu cokelatIndonesian
- Falva strigoIdo
- NáttuglaIcelandic
- AlloccoItalian
- モリフクロウJapanese
- ДыгъургъууKabardian
- кәдімгі оңазаKazakh
- Кәдімгі жапалақKazakh
- 올빼미Korean
- 유럽올빼미Korean
- Kundê şevêKurdish
- PerthuanCornish
- BëschkauzLuxembourgish
- naminė pelėdaLithuanian
- meža pūceLatvian
- суртумнаMari
- шумска уткаMacedonian
- bosuilDutch
- kattugleNorwegian
- ChòtOccitan
- Puszczyk zwyczajnyPolish
- PuszczykPolish
- puszczyk (zwyczajny)Polish
- AlucoPortuguese
- CabrioilaPortuguese
- coruja-chinesaPortuguese
- coruja-do-matoPortuguese
- coruja-do-mato-europeiaPortuguese
- coruja-dos-himalaiasPortuguese
- Huhurez micRomanian
- Huhurez-micRomanian
- Серая неясытьRussian
- Seraya NeyasytRussian
- ЛелитRusyn
- CuccuSicilian
- Jennie houletScots
- BussáskuolfiNorthern Sami
- rohttoskuolfiNorthern Sami
- sova obyčajnáSlovak
- lesna sovaSlovenian
- kukuvajka e pyjeveAlbanian
- Šumska sovaSerbian
- Шумска соваSerbian
- kattugglaSwedish
- alaca baykuşTurkish
- сова сіраUkrainian
- Hù niviconVietnamese
- cú vàng nâuVietnamese
- 灰林鴞Chinese
- 灰林鸮Chinese
- 西灰林鴞Chinese
- 西灰林鸮Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the tawny owl
Other species in the same genus Strix.
Ural owl
Strix uralensis
Great grey owl
Strix nebulosa
Brown wood owl
Strix leptogrammica
Barred owl
Strix varia
Omani owl
Strix butleri
Spotted owl
Strix occidentalis
CompareTawny owl vs Ural owlTawny owl vs Great grey owlTawny owl vs Brown wood owlTawny owl vs Barred owl
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 tawny owl?
The tawny owl is a bird in the owl subgroup, belonging to the family Strigidae in the order Strigiformes.
How heavy is a tawny owl?
An adult Tawny owl has a representative body mass of 472.5 g, with reported values from 426 g to 524 g. Its wingspan is 99 cm.
What does the tawny owl eat?
The tawny owl is a carnivore.
What habitat does the tawny owl live in?
The tawny owl lives in forest habitats, where it has a perching lifestyle and is sedentary.
Is the tawny owl endangered?
No. The tawny owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.
How long does a tawny owl live?
The tawny owl has a lifespan of 21.5 years, with values up to 22.42 years reported.
How many eggs does a tawny owl lay?
The tawny owl has a clutch size of 3.1, with 1 clutch per year and an incubation period of 29.7 days.
Who named the tawny owl?
The tawny owl, Strix aluco, was named by Linnaeus, 1758.
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).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Tawny owl (Strix aluco). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/tawny-owl
“Tawny owl (Strix aluco).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/tawny-owl.
@misc{tawny_owl_2026,
title = {Tawny owl (Strix aluco)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/tawny-owl},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}