Blakiston's Fish Owl

Ketupa blakistoni (Seebohm, 1884)

Blakiston's Fish Owl, Ketupa blakistoni, breeds in north-east China and northern Japan. It is an owl in the family Strigidae, and belongs to the genus Ketupa. The bird is associated with riparian forest and needs large, old trees for nesting close to lakes, rivers, springs and shoals that remain unfrozen through winter. It was named by Henry Seebohm in honour of the English naturalist Thomas Blakiston, who obtained the first specimen in Hakodate on Hokkaidō, Japan, in 1883.

Order

Strigiformes

Family

Strigidae — Owls

Breeding range

Palearctic: ne China and n Japan