Brown Hawk Owl

Brown Hawk Owl

A Reference for North and Central American Owls

Brown Hawk Owl or Northern Boobook has only one recorded live occurrence in North America. This was on St Paul Island, Alaska on the 27th of August in 2007. Another record of a deceased bird from Kiska Island was found on the 1st of August in 2008. Brown Hawk Owl is typically found in Southern Asia. Northern Boobook is a subspecies of the Brown Hawk Owl. These two owls are so extremely similar that they have never been formally divided into separate species. They are also visually indistinguishable in the field. Because the Northern Boobook is such a long-distance migrant that breeds in Japan, China and SE Russia it is the owl listed by the AOS (American Ornithological Society – formerly AOU) and thought to have been the owl that occurred in North America. We cover this species here because… it’s possible.

Below you can find photos and information about this species, in case you find one of them in North America (maybe next time you’re on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska)

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