Mid-sized and ground-nesting owl, occurring in a wide range of open habitats, such as marshes, grasslands, and tundra. It has wide distribution across the Holarctic, the Neotropics and some Pacific Islands. In Europe, the species is well presented in NW, N & E regions, it has patchy distribution in C Europe and is almost absent in the S (Keller et al. 2020).
Intra-European partial migrant. N populations fully migratory, those to the S thought to be largely resident.
Its population trend in Europe is fluctuating. Evaluated as “Least Concern” (BirdLife International 2021).