Species:

Hawk-Owl (Surnia ulula)

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

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Length (cm):
36-39
85-102
Wingspan (cm):
74-81
140-170
Weight (gram):
215-380
960-1030
Size group:
Crow-size
Bigger than a crow
Main Texts:
Appearance:

Hawk-like, partly diurnal owl with long tail and barred underparts. Plumage gives black and white impression. White face framed in bold, vertical black stripes. Eyes bright yellow. Wings fairly short, but not rounded. Tail long and graded. Flight pattern hawk-like, with rapid series of bursting wing-beats followed by glides. Often perched in the open, exposed in tree-tops.

Sound:

Seldom heard outside breeding ground. Alarm call a sharp, merlin-like "kwitt kwitt kwitt", or "ki-ki-ki". Song a 10 second rapid pulse of shivering notes with a bubbling quality. Rising slightly in pitch and then slowly falling.

Song:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Eero Pätsi, Licence,Link.

Appearance:

Slender and elegant bird, about the same size as Grey Heron. Bill dark in breeding birds, otherwise yellow. Legs and feet dark, but tibia often with red tinge in breeding season. Long, S-shaped neck with sharp angle/bend. Erect posture, and less skulking, horizontal hunting behaviour than Little Egret. Almost twice the size of Little Egret, and wing-beats are considerably slower. Wings give the impression of being attached more upfront than in Little E. Feets protrude well beyond tail in flight.

Sound:

Silent outside breeding ground. In colonies various harsh calls like a dry, and mechanical "kerrrrrrr", and a very nasal "geet" or "ga-geet ga-geet" are heard.

Flight call:

Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file


Distribution:

Wikipedia: map (se also Xeno-canto below)

Ecology:

Birdlife ecology

Links:

Observation.org Latest observations

Video IBC

Image search Flickr NB! May give other species

Sound search at Xeno-canto

Featherbase

CC

CC-sound:Lynette Rudman, Licence,Link.

Similar species (image):
Similar species (sound):
Silhouette Group:
Owls
Silhouette
Heron-like
Silhouette
Several different images of the species
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Several different sounds of the species
Error loading Flash for sound!
See sound file