National Geographic Articles

SITTING MOTIONLESS ON a fallen tree trunk, Rada Surmach strained to hear the mournful echo of nesting owls, deep in the Tunsha River Valley of the Russian Far East. In the twilight, she finally heard it: The duet of the Blakiston’s fish owl, an endangered species whose six-foot wingspan makes it the world’s biggest owl. These haunting duets, rare among owl species, reinforce pair bonds. It’s as if the male is calling out to his mate, “I’m here!” to which the female responds in a lower tone, “I’m here too!” Perched high in the forest canopy, fish owl pairs perform a four-note duet of synchronized calls that can last up to two hours. These raptors, known for their intense yellow eyes and showy ear tufts, nest in cavities of old-growth trees among the wooded river valleys of the Russian Far East, where boreal and temperate rainforests meet the Sea of Japan and the Sea of Okhotsk. Named after 19th-century English naturalist Thomas W. Blakiston, the owl is divided into two subspecies: Bubo blakistoni doerriesi, found on the Russian mainland, and Bubo blakistoni blakistoni, which lives in Hokkaido, Japan, Russia’s southern Kuril Islands, and likely northeastern China. (Take our poll and pick your favorite superb owl.) In Hokkaido, people put out food for the Blakiston’s fish owls and manage their populations; in Primorye Province, the mated pairs that remain—fewer than 200—are truly wild. The global population of the owls is estimated at 1,000 to 1,900 individuals.