Blakiston's Fish Owl/ Blakiston's Eagle Owl

When the trip to Hokkaido was finalized one of my absolutely must have targets to photograph was the Blakiston’s fish owls, the largest living species of owls in the world, an endangered species that lives in some of the hardest-to-reach corners of northeast Asia.
There are thought to be less than 1000 pairs of these birds remaining in the wild, with very few individuals held in captivity. Found only in northeast Asia, this secretive species has a fragmented distribution in the remote forests of Hokkaido in northern Japan, the Russian Far East, and northeastern China.
Photographed at 4.30am after waiting from midnight in sub zero temperatures. -10 degrees Celsius I think it was.

[@DxShutter]

goodd

[@siddharthx-WildArtWorks]

Thanks

[@indyreno2933]

This animal is more correctly called a blakiston's eagle owl as it does not belong to the genus Ketupa, it is part of the genus Bubo (Palearctic Eagle Owls), the Bubo genus is constituted by only six extant species: the European Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), the West Asian Eagle Owl (Bubo turcomanus), the Central Asian Eagle Owl (Bubo hemachalanus), the Chinese Eagle Owl (Bubo kiautschensis), the Siberian Eagle Owl (Bubo sibiricus), and the Blakiston's Eagle Owl (Bubo blakistoni).

[@siddharthx-WildArtWorks]

You are right to a degree as this is indeed related to the Eurasian Eagle-owl and Fish-owls are but a subgenus of Eagle-owls. It also shares some characteristics with the other three fish-owls which makes the Blakiston's position ambiguous. I think the question of where it should be placed is still open.

[@indyreno2933]

@WildArtWorks, actually, fish owls are widely accepted as a separate genus, containing just three extant species being the Brown Fish Owl (Ketupa zeylonensis), the Tawny Fish Owl (Ketupa flavipes), and the Buffy Fish Owl (Ketupa ketupu), also, Bubo bubo is now correctly called the european eagle owl due to all asian subspecies being reclassified under four separate species names, Bubo turcomanus which is known as the west asian eagle owl, Bubo hemachalanus which is known as the central asian eagle owl, Bubo kiautschensis which is known as the chinese eagle owl, and Bubo sibiricus which is known as the siberian eagle owl, those four species are more closely related to the blakiston's eagle owl than to the european eagle owl, the Bubo genus now contains just six extant species: the European Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), the West Asian Eagle Owl (Bubo turcomanus), the Central Asian Eagle Owl (Bubo hemachalanus), the Chinese Eagle Owl (Bubo kiautschensis), the Siberian Eagle Owl (Bubo sibiricus), and the Blakiston's Eagle Owl (Bubo blakistoni).

[@siddharthx-WildArtWorks]

@@indyreno2933 could you please help with some references.

[@indyreno2933]

@WildArtWorks, the Bubo genus is now left with only six extant species: the European Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo), the West Asian Eagle Owl (Bubo turcomanus), the Central Asian Eagle Owl (Bubo hemachalanus), the Chinese Eagle Owl (Bubo kiautschensis), the Siberian Owl (Bubo sibiricus), and the Blakiston's Eagle Owl (Bubo blakistoni), which means many species are relocated to four distinct genera, Nyctea with only one extant species being the Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca), Neobubo with two extant species being the Great Horned Owl (Neobubo virginianus) and the Lesser Horned Owl (Neobubo magellanicus), Indobubo with six extant species being the Arabian Eagle Owl (Indobubo milesi), the Dusky Eagle Owl (Indobubo coromandus), the Forest Eagle Owl (Indobubo nipalensis), the Indian Eagle Owl (Indobubo bengalensis), the Barred Eagle Owl (Indobubo sumatranus), and the Philippine Eagle Owl (Indobubo philippensis), and Afrobubo with nine extant species being the Pharaoh Eagle Owl (Afrobubo ascalaphus), the Spotted Eagle Owl (Afrobubo africanus), the Greyish Eagle Owl (Afrobubo cinerascens), the Giant Eagle Owl (Afrobubo lacteus), the Shelley's Eagle Owl (Afrobubo shelleyi), the Akun Eagle Owl (Afrobubo leucostictus), the Usambara Eagle Owl (Afrobubo vosseleri), the Fraser's Eagle Owl (Afrobubo poensis), and the Cape Eagle Owl (Afrobubo capensis), while the genera Nyctea (Snowy Owl Lineage) and Neobubo (New World Eagle Owls) are allied with each other, the genus Indobubo (South Asian Eagle Owls) is more closely related to the Fish Owls (genus Ketupa) and the genus Afrobubo (African Eagle Owls) is more closely related to the Fishing Owls (genus Scotopelia), whereas the genus Bubo (Palearctic Eagle Owls) is more distantly related from all the other groups.

[@siddharthx-WildArtWorks]

@@indyreno2933 thank you. That is very helpful.

[@simonphelpsgardiner8413]

No wonder its endangered living in china i bet there is recipes for it

[@siddharthx-WildArtWorks]

destruction of the habitat mostly... :)