• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note
Strix aluco and S. nivicolum (del Hoyo and Collar 2014) were previously lumped as S. aluco following Sibley and Monroe (1990, 1993).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A. and Fishpool, L.D.C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 1: Non-passerines. Lynx Edicions BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
-	-	-

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2024	Least Concern
2016	Least Concern
2014	Least Concern
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	-

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	23,300,000 km2	medium
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1580000-2340000 mature individuals	poor	estimated	2018
Population trend	stable	-	suspected	-
Generation length	5.62 years	-	-	-

Population justification: In Europe, the total population size is estimated at 1,260,000-1,870,000 mature individuals, with 632,000-932,000 breeding pairs (BirdLife International 2021), and comprises approximately 80% of the species' global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is between 1,580,000-2,340,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is desirable. The species' population in Europe is considered to have remained relatively stable over three generations (16.86 years) (BirdLife International 2021). As this region holds the vast majority of the species' global range, the global population size is considered to be stable over three generations. This species is considered to have a medium dependency on forest habitat, which is estimated to be declining at a slow rate within its mapped range (Global Forest Watch 2024).

Trend justification:    .

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Afghanistan	extant	native	yes
Albania	extant	native	yes
Algeria	extant	native	yes
Andorra	extant	native	yes
Armenia	extant	native	yes
Austria	extant	native	yes
Azerbaijan	extant	native	yes
Belarus	extant	native	yes
Belgium	extant	native	yes
Bosnia and Herzegovina	extant	native	yes
Bulgaria	extant	native	yes
China (mainland)	extant	native	yes
Croatia	extant	native	yes
Czechia	extant	native	yes
Denmark	extant	native	yes
Estonia	extant	native	yes
Finland	extant	native	yes
France	extant	native	yes
Georgia	extant	native	yes
Germany	extant	native	yes
Greece	extant	native	yes
Hungary	extant	native	yes
Iran, Islamic Republic of	extant	native	yes
Iraq	extant	native	yes
Israel	extant	native	yes
Italy	extant	native	yes
Jordan	extant	native	yes
Kazakhstan	extant	native	yes
Kyrgyzstan	extant	native	yes
Latvia	extant	native	yes
Lebanon	extant	native	yes
Liechtenstein	extant	native	yes
Lithuania	extant	native	yes
Luxembourg	extant	native	yes
Moldova	extant	native	yes
Montenegro	extant	native	yes
Morocco	extant	native	yes
Netherlands	extant	native	yes
North Macedonia	extant	native	yes
Norway	extant	native	yes
Pakistan	extant	native	yes
Palestine	extant	native	yes
Poland	extant	native	yes
Portugal	extant	native	yes
Romania	extant	native	yes
Russia	extant	native	yes
Russia (Central Asian)	extant	native	yes
Russia (European)	extant	native	yes
Serbia	extant	native	yes
Slovakia	extant	native	yes
Slovenia	extant	native	yes
Spain	extant	native	yes
Sweden	extant	native	yes
Switzerland	extant	native	yes
Syria	extant	native	yes
Tajikistan	extant	native	yes
Tunisia	extant	native	yes
Türkiye	extant	native	yes
Turkmenistan	extant	native	yes
Ukraine	extant	native	yes
United Kingdom	extant	native	yes
Uzbekistan	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name
Belarus	Al'manskija baloty
Belarus	Brycalavičskaja Pušča
Belarus	Mid Prypiac'
Belarus	Prypiackija baloty
Belarus	Vyhanaščanskija baloty
Czechia	Krivoklatsko (Krivoklatsko region)
Czechia	Trebonsko (Trebon region)
Greece	Central Zagori and mount Mitsikeli
Greece	Filiouri valley and eastern Rodopi mountains
Greece	Mount Olympos
Greece	Mount Voras (Kaïmaktsalan)
Russia (European)	Buzulukski forest
Russia (European)	Lower Urushten river
Serbia	Fruska gora
Serbia	Goc-Zeljin
Serbia	Valjevske mountains
Spain	Mountains of Barcelona
Sweden	Lake Solgen
Ukraine	Carpathian Vulkanichnyj Mountains
Ukraine	Crimean Nature Reserve
Ukraine	Gorgany

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial	Arable Land	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Pastureland	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Plantations	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Rural Gardens	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest	suitable	resident
Artificial/Terrestrial	Urban Areas	suitable	resident
Forest	Boreal	suitable	resident
Forest	Temperate	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Boreal	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation	suitable	resident
Shrubland	Temperate	suitable	resident
Altitude	0 - 4250 m	Occasional altitudinal limits

Purpose	Scale
Pets/display animals, horticulture	international

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Tawny Owl Strix aluco. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tawny-owl-strix-aluco on 27/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 27/11/2024.