First Observations of the Movements of the Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus, Strigidae, Aves) Using GPS–GSM Telemetry in the European Part of Russia

In the Crane Homeland Nature Reserve, 56.7573° N, 37.7920° E, Moscow region, Russian Federation, a total of 186 Long-eared owls were ringed between 2000 and 2023. Over those years, only one ring was returned. The young owl was ringed and released on July 20, 2007, on the outskirts of Dmitrovka, 56.747502° N, 37.738124° E, Taldomskii district, Moscow region. After 16 years, on February 12, 2023, the ring without the bird was found near the town of Velka Krash in the Olomouc region, Czech Republic. The distance between the ring release and the return amounted to 1510 km in the southwesterly direction. In 2021, as part of the Russian–German ICARUS program, for the first time for Russia and in general in Eurasia, five satellite and four GPS–GSM transmitters were attached to young or adult long-eared owls. Only one transmitter that belonged to the tagged owl from Dmitrovka started working the next year. The transmitter data covered the period from April 23 to August 14. The tagged owl was nesting in the second year of its life at Beshenkovo, 56.4342° N, 37.7788° E, Dmitrovskii district, Moscow region. The distance between the ringing and first nesting sites amounted to 34.5 km. The nesting was successful, and the pair raised five fledglings. According to the data transmitted, the tagged bird flew and hunted not more than 1.3 km away from the nest.