---
title: "Sperweruil"
description: "Surnia ulula — Vogels. The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula), is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/northern-hawk-owl
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Sperweruil

> Surnia ulula — Vogels. The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula), is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes.

- Scientific name: *Surnia ulula*
- Category: `birds` (Vogels)
- Habitats: `forest` (Bos)
- iNaturalist observations: 4518
- Wikidata: [Q193192](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q193192)
- iNaturalist taxon: [20372](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/20372)

## Names

- en: Northern Hawk Owl
- de: Sperbereule
- es: Lechuza gavilana
- fr: Chouette épervière
- nl: Sperweruil
- pt: Coruja-gavião
- pl: Sowa jarzębata

## Countries with the most observations

RU (1443), CA (1434), US (843), FI (179), NO (115), SE (102), DK (48), CN (18), DE (15), NL (8), LT (7), KZ (6)

## Summary

The northern hawk-owl or northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula), is a medium-sized true owl of the northern latitudes.  It is non-migratory and usually stays within its breeding range, though it sometimes irrupts southward. It is one of the few owls that is not strictly nocturnal nor crepuscular, often being active during the day. This is the only living species in the genus Surnia of the family Strigidae, the "typical" owls (as opposed to barn owls, Tytonidae). The species is sometimes called simply the hawk owl; however, many species of owls in the genus Ninox are also called "hawk owls".

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_hawk-owl

## Photo

![Sperweruil](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/northern-hawk-owl/medium.jpg)

Photo: Лариса Артемьева · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105439371

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/northern-hawk-owl?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).