Blakiston's Fish-Owl

Ketupa blakistoni

Blakiston's fish owl (Bubo blakistoni), the largest living species of owl, is a fish owl, a sub-group of eagle owls which specialize in hunting in riparian areas. It is native to China, Japan, and north-eastern Asia. This species is a part of the family known as typical owls (Strigidae) which contains most species of owl. Blakiston's fish owl and three related species were previously placed in the genus Ketupa; however mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data is equivocal on which of the two genus names (Ketupa or Bubo) is more appropriately applied for this species. Its habitat is riparian forest, with large, old trees for nest-sites, near lakes, rivers, springs and shoals that do not freeze in winter. Henry Seebohm named this bird after the English naturalist Thomas Blakiston, who collected the original specimen in Hakodate on Hokkaidō, Japan, in 1883.