Page 76 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #06

PHOTO
STORY

ABOVE A male Ural
owl (right) passes
prey to a female
(left). During the
breeding season,
males provide food
for their mates, while
females incubate
the eggs and protect
the hatchlings.
LEFT Due to its
proximity to the
Baltic Sea, spring
usually arrives about
two weeks later in
northern Estonia than
in the south of the
country. Here, a female
incubates her eggs
in mid-May in an old,
birch tree ‘snag’.
The owls choose to
nest in natural cavities.

76 BBC Wildlife June 2018