Strix aluco (tawny owl) genome, bStrAlu1, haplotype 1. Strix aluco isolate:bStrAlu1

The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is commonly found in woodlands across Europe to western Siberia. It typically makes its nest in a tree hole where it can protect its eggs and young against potential predators. It is able to hunt successfully at night because of its vision and hearing adaptations and its ability to fly silently. This sample is from a female in San Sebastian, Spain, collected by Nerea Pagaldai, coordinated by Tom Gilbert, and used to generate a high-quality reference genome for the Vertebrate Genomes Project (VGP). Sequencing and genome assembly were conducted at the Vertebrate Genomes Lab (VGL) at the Rockefeller University, led by Olivier Fedrigo and Erich D. Jarvis.