Reintroduced Ural owls are breeding again in Austria

Ural owls that were bred in captivity and released in Austria are nesting in the wild again. BirdGuides reported on October 17, 2026, that the species disappeared as an Austrian breeding bird in the mid-20th century. The Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology at Vetmeduni Vienna began releasing young birds in 2009. The method is a soft release: the owls spend weeks in aviaries at the site before they are free. Releases have been in the Wienerwald Biosphere Reserve and the Dürrenstein Wilderness Area.

About 45 breeding pairs were reported in Austria in 2021. That figure is from 2021, not a new census this month. Birds are followed with genetics, leg rings, nest boxes, and cameras. Some have dispersed toward the Czech-Bavarian border and toward Slovenia. A separate project in the Bavarian Forest, where the owl had been absent for more than a century, began in 2017 and has now recorded wild breeding. In 2025 the European captive-breeding program produced 50 chicks. Twenty-two were released in Bavaria and 18 in Austria. Researchers say it is too early to call the population self-sustaining without longer monitoring.