Eurasian Eagle Owl

The Eurasian Eagle Owl (Scientific name: Bubo Bubo) is often said to be the biggest owl in the world. In fact, recent studies have shown that on average the Blakiston’s fish owl is slightly bigger and therefor takes the title of world’s biggest owl. Measuring 23-29 inches long and having a wingspan of 55-70 inches the Eurasian Eagle owl is a huge bird of prey none-the-less.

Compared to other birds of prey how big is the Eurasian Eagle Owl? Well, the Eurasian Eagle Owl is bigger than the Snowy Owl but smaller than the Golden Eagle.

The Eurasian Eagle Owl, often called the Eagle Owl, belongs to the Owl family ‘Strigidae’, consisting of the ‘true/typical’ owls. Within this family, the eagle owl belongs to the genus ‘Bubo’ which is made up of the Horned Owls and the Old-World Eagle Owls. Other Owls in the Bubo genus include the Blakiston’s fish Owl and the Snowy Owl.

Females can weigh 1.7-4.2kg whereas the males weigh considerably less at around 1.5-3.2kg. In comparison to this, the weight of a common barn owl is around 500g / 0.5kgs.

Females are also bigger than the males of this species, as with most owls. This is because the female has the role of guarding her young and so is more likely to meet with predators and so she needs to be able to scare them away. The bigger females have survived and therefor her young (her female chicks are also likely to be larger) are more likely to survive and so the natural process of evolution has evolved so that females are bigger than their (male) mates.

The diet of an Eurasian Eagle Owl is mainly that of small mammals, but they can kill animals up to the sizes of foxes and small deer. They don’t tend to kill larger animals as the owls would have to eat it on the ground, and this could leave them vulnerable to predators such as wild dogs and foxes. Instead smaller mammals are favoured such as rabbits. Amazingly these owls are said to be able to swallow a hedgehog (whole)!

Like all other owls, the Eurasian Eagle owl gets rid of unwanted parts of the food (fur, bones e.t.c) by yarping it. This means that their stomach presses all these bits into a tight pellet, using the acids in its stomach, and regurgitates it, usually within 24 hours of eating the animal.

The appearance of this eagle owl is beautiful, provided your not it’s prey. They have very strong-looking ear tufts that stick up a lot. Their feathers are a mid-brown colour but with lighter and darker streaks. They have orange irises. Just below their beak, on their chest, many have a patch of pure white fur.

The lifespan of one in the wild is around 20 years, but in captivity Eurasian eagle owls can live for up to 60 years!

They can be found in mountains and forests in parts of Northern Europe.