Species:

Ural Owl (Strix uralensis)

Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla flava)

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Length (cm):
60-62
17-17
Wingspan (cm):
124-134
23-27
Weight (gram):
450-1020
14-21
Size group:
Bigger than a crow
Sparrow-size
Main Texts:
Appearance:

Like a pale, giant Tawny Owl. Yellow bill, long, evenly barred, tail. Eyes dark. Facial disks pale, unmarked and almost fused, lacking the dividing wedge of Tawny Owl. In flight, note lack of pale base of primaries and much slower wing-beats than Tawny. Mild facial expression, but very aggressive at breeding ground.

Sound:

Song: 6 -10 evenly spaced "ho"'s, starting silently and gradually rising in volume and pitch. Also an accented "ho-ho, ho-ho-it, ho-ho", three middle notes ascending and the two notes before and after descending. A variety of barking social sounds.

Song:

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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

Appearance:

Highly variable with many subspecies in different regions. Upperparts mainly grey and greenish, underparts yellow. Tail quite short compared to other wagtails, and the whole bird in profile is not unlike a pipit. Smallest wagtail in the region. Some birds are very pale below, head markings are very variable, depending on subspecies. Hybrids are not uncommon. Differs from Grey Wagtail in dark legs, only pale yellow vent and narrow wing-bars. Juvenile White Wagtails and Yellow Wagtails can be confused, but White Wagtail is greyer, with big grey breast patch (Yellow Wagtail may show narrow breast band). Closest congener is Citrine Wagtail, which lacks dark lore, has broad wing-bars and grey back.

Sound:

Contact call characteristic and widely used; a sharp, drawn out "pseeeoo" with an accented ending falling in pitch. Song primitive and less striking. A variable phrase with two or three notes resembling the contact call in timbre. Beware differences in calls and songs between different subspecies.

Contact call:

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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

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