query: How large is Herzegovina?

title: Herzegovina

text: Herzegovina (/ˌhɛərtsɪˈɡoʊvɪnə/ HAIRT-si-GOH-vi-nə or /ˌhɜːrtsəɡoʊˈviːnə/;[1] Serbo-Croatian: Hercegovina, Херцеговина, [xɛ̌rtsɛɡov̞ina]) is the southern region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. While there is no official border distinguishing it from the Bosnian geographical region, it is sometimes asserted that the borders of the region are Dalmatia to the southwest, Montenegro to the east, Mount Maglić to the northeast, and Mount Ivan to the north. Measurements of the area range from 11,419km2 (4,409sqmi),[2] or around 22% of the total area of the present-day country,[3] to 12,276km2 (4,740sqmi), around 24% of the country.[4]

title: Herzegovina

text: Montenegro did succeed in liberating and annexing large parts of Herzegovina before the Berlin Congress of 1878, including the Nikšić area; the historical Herzegovina region annexed to Montenegro is known as East or Old Herzegovina.

title: Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a liberal democracy. It has several levels of political structuring, according to the Dayton accord. The most important of these levels is the division of the country into two entities: Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina covers 51% of Bosnia and Herzegovina's total area, while Republika Srpska covers 49%. The entities, based largely on the territories held by the two warring sides at the time, were formally established by the Dayton peace agreement in 1995 because of the tremendous changes in Bosnia and Herzegovina's ethnic structure. Since 1996, the power of the entities relative to the State government has decreased significantly. Nonetheless, entities still have numerous powers to themselves.

title: Herzegovina

text: Stolac, for example, is perhaps the oldest city in Herzegovina. There have been settlements dating from the Paleolithic period (Badanj Cave). An Illyrian tribe lived in the city of Daorson. There were several Roman settlements alongside the Bregava River and medieval inhabitants left large and beautiful stone grave monuments called stećak in Radimlja. Trebinje, on the Trebišnjica River, is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, near the border with Montenegro.

title: Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Citizens of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the referendum that was held between 29 February and 1 March 1992. The referendum question was: "Are you in favor of a sovereign and independent Bosnia-Herzegovina, a state of equal citizens and nations of Muslims, Serbs, Croats and others who live in it?" Independence was strongly favoured by Bosniak and Bosnian Croat voters, but the referendum was largely boycotted by Bosnian Serbs. The total turn out of voters was 63.6% of which 99.7% voted for the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

title: Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian: "Ustav Bosne i Hercegovine" / Устав Босне и Херцеговине) is the highest legal document of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current Constitution is the Annex 4 of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement, signed on 14 December 1995. The Constitution saw the end of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, however it has seen a large amount of criticism. Under the supervision of international community, an "arrangement of amendments" (later called "April arrangement of amendments") to the Constitution, agreed upon by leading political parties, was proposed for adoption in the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina in April 2006, but it failed to get the approval of two-thirds of members in the House of Representatives.

title: List of companies of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country in Southeastern Europe located on the Balkan Peninsula. Sarajevo is the capital and largest city. Bosnia faces the dual-problem of rebuilding a war-torn country and introducing transitional liberal market reforms to its formerly mixed economy. One legacy of the previous era is a strong industry; under former republic president Džemal Bijedić and SFRY President Josip Broz Tito, metal industries were promoted in the republic, resulting in the development of a large share of Yugoslavia's plants; S.R. Bosnia and Herzegovina had a very strong industrial export oriented economy in the 1970s and 1980s, with large scale exports worth millions of US$.

title: Partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a single entity occupying roughly the same territory since the rise of the medieval Kingdom of Bosnia and the subsequent Ottoman conquest of Bosnia between the 1380s and 1590s. The borders of today's Bosnia and Herzegovina were largely set as the borders of the Ottoman-era Eyalet of Bosnia, fixed in the south and west by the 1699 Treaty of Karlowitz, in the north by the 1739 Treaty of Belgrade, and in the east by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin.

title: Access to public information in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: According to a report prepared by the Association of journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the country’s Press Council, the vast majority of Bosnians (around 93%) believe that there are several limitations to the right of access to public information in practice. At the same, public opinion in Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely not fully aware of their rights with regard to access to public information.

title: Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: In August 1991, when war in Croatia had begun and was beginning in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Archbishop Puljić and Bishops Komarica and Žanić appealed to the authorities, religious communities and the international community to preserve Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state and prevent war. However, bishops differed about the internal organization of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Žanić believed that each ethnic group should have a separate administrative unit within the country, but Puljić and the leadership of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia Srebrena insisted on a single state without divisions. In 1994, the bishops demanded that the rights of all peoples must be ensured in all areas of the country. They opposed dividing Bosnia and Herzegovina into states because Catholic religious, sacred and cultural objects would remain largely outside the area granted to the Croats. They also feared the destruction of established diocesan borders of dioceses, which would have political consequences.

title: Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Croat-Bosniak War was at its peak during 1993. In March 1994, the Bosniak and Croat leadership signed the Washington agreement, according to which, the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH)-controlled and HVO-controlled areas were united into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. After the Washington agreement was signed, the Croatian Army, HVO and ARBiH liberated southwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina in seven military operations. In December 1995, the Bosnian War ended with the signing of the Dayton agreement. However, the same agreement caused problem in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was largely ineffective. According to the information published by the Research and Documentation Centre in Sarajevo, 7,762 Croats were killed or missing. From the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 230,000 Croats were expelled, while from territory of Republika Srpska, 152,856 Croats were expelled.

title: Islamization of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The various advantages and privileges that were reserved for Muslims and the large number of conversions they encouraged among the native population led to the emergence over time of a largely local Muslim ruling class that dominated political and economic power in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Conversion to Islam was also used as a way to escape the devşirme tribute.

title: List of karst springs in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Following is a list of karst springs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most of the country's karstic wellsprings belong to Dinaric Alps systems of limestone, flysch, and/or their tectonic contact zone. These are almost regularly large founts in hydrogeological terms, with large average annual discharges, and with extremely high amplitudes between minimum and maximum discharge, depending on seasonal flow, precipitation, other various hydrological parameters and sometimes anthropological impacts. Waters often emerging from large karst caves, in many cases with complex underground flow, various characteristic karstic features and endemic biodiversity, creating short river courses with relatively large water discharge.

title: Radovan Karadžić

text: On 9 January 1992, the Bosnian Serb Assembly proclaimed the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Република српског народа Босне и Херцеговине/Republika srpskog naroda Bosne i Hercegovine). On 28 February 1992, the constitution of the Serb Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted. It declared that the state's territory included Serb autonomous regions, municipalities, and other Serbian ethnic entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as "all regions in which the Serbian people represent a minority due to the Second World War genocide" (although how this was established was never specified), and that it was to be a part of the federal Yugoslav state. On 29 February and 1 March 1992 a referendum on the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Yugoslavia was held. Many Serbs boycotted the referendum and pro-independence Bosniaks (Muslims) and Croats turned out.

title: Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Chetniks, in turn, persecuted and killed a large number of non-Serbs and Communist sympathizers, with the Muslim population of Bosnia, Herzegovina and Sandžak being a primary target. Once captured, Muslim villagers were systematically massacred by the Chetniks. Of the 75,000 Muslims who lost their lives in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the war, approximately 30,000 (mostly civilians) were killed by the Chetniks.

title: Islam in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text:
Islam is the most widespread religion in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was introduced to the local population in the 15th and 16th centuries as a result of the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Muslims comprise the single largest religious community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (51%) (the other two large groups being Eastern Orthodox Christians (31%), all of whom identify as Bosnian Serbs, and Roman Catholics (15%), almost all of whom identify as Bosnian Croats).

title: 2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The 2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a series of demonstrations and riots that began in the northern town of Tuzla on 4 February 2014, but quickly spread to multiple cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Sarajevo, Zenica, Mostar, Jajce, and Brčko, among others, for social reasons and with the aim of overthrowing the government. The riots were the most violent scenes the country had seen since the end of the Bosnian War in 1995. The rioting largely took place in the entity of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the same level of unrest or activism did not occur in Republika Srpska.

title: 2010–12 Bosnia and Herzegovina government formation

text: The government of Bosnia and Herzegovina must agree as to how funds available through the EU's Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance will be divided between the national government, the Federation, and Republika Srpska.

title: Herzegovina

text: The locals of Herzegovina are known by the demonym Herzegovinians (Serbo-Croatian: Hercegovci; sing. Hercegovac). While the population of Herzegovina throughout history has been ethnically mixed, the Bosnian War in the 1990s resulted in mass ethnic cleansing and large-scale displacement of people. The last pre-war census in 1991 recorded a population of 437,095 inhabitants.

title: Archives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Archives of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is composed of three main sectors.As of January 2017, Archive of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina holds 34 fonds. The most notable archival fond is the one related to Branko Mikulić and which is being studied by a large number of users from all around the world. The Library of the Archives contains over 2500 books and other publications which are classified as following:

title: National Liberation Movement in Croatia

text: In the general warfare of the anti-Hitler coalition, partisan movement in the Yugoslav territory, primarily Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose members, after the capitulation of Italy, disarmed a large number of Italian divisions and liberated large parts of Istria, Dalmatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, played a significant role during 1943.

title: Architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The architecture of Bosnia and Herzegovina is largely influenced by four major periods where political and social changes determined the creation of distinct cultural and architectural habits of the region.

title: 2014 unrest in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Large amounts of historical documents were destroyed when sections of the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, housed in the presidential building, were set on fire. Among the lost archival material were documents and gifts from the Ottoman period, original documents from the 1878-1918 Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as documentations of the interwar period, the 1941-1945 rule of the Independent State of Croatia, papers from the following years, and about 15000 files from the 1996-2003 Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

title: Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The total number of Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina continued to reduce, especially after the Bosnian Civil War broke out in 1992. Soon, an exodus of Bosnian Serbs occurred when a large number of Serbs were expelled from central Bosnia, Ozren, Sarajevo, Western Herzegovina and Krajina. According to the 1996 census, made by UNHCR and officially unrecognized, there was 3,919,953 inhabitants, of which 1,484,530 (37.88%) were Serbs. In the territory of the Serbian Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the percentage of Serbs slightly changed, although,their total number reduced.

title: List of lakes of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Natural lakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina take 67.5 km², which is a little more than 0.12% of the total surface area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Buško Blato is the largest lake, its size being 56.7 km². Blidinje lake is the largest natural mountain lake in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with surface area varying between 2.5 and 6 km², and Buško Blato lake with its size of 56.7 km² is the biggest artificial accumulation in Bosnia and Herzegovina; however it is forgotten that this lake was made from accumulation of water from the Buško Blato marshland, earlier natural slough and morass system. The total size of all lakes is 1/10 as large as the world average. Because of this, natural lakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina are not economically important.

title: Herzegovina

text: During the Bosnian War, large parts of western and central Herzegovina came under control of the Croat republic of Herzeg-Bosnia (which later joined the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) while eastern Herzegovina became a part of Republika Srpska.

title: Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The Vance-Owen plan was presented in January 1993. It was planned to create 10 cantons on the territory of the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This plan increased conflict between Croats and Bosniaks. The Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ARBiH) launched four offensives and conquered a large area which was under control of HVO; almost the whole Central Bosnia (except Novi Travnik, Vitez, Busovača, Kiseljak, Kreševo and Žepče and the wider areas around those towns and Usora, part of Municipality of Travnik, Zavidovići and part of Municipality of Vareš) and part of Herzegovina, Konjic, Jablanica and eastern and northern parts of Mostar.

title: Organized crime in Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: The federalist government of Bosnia and Herzegovina makes fighting organised-crime groups extremely difficult. Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of two largely independent entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska – both of which have their own capital, parliament, president and police force. Due to the poor cooperation between law-enforcement agencies in the two regions, criminals can often evade prosecution simply by moving from one to the other. Mafia groups from neighbouring countries (particularly Serbia and Croatia) often base their operations in Sarajevo, due to its proximity to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

text: The NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina was a series of actions undertaken by NATO whose stated aim was to establish long-term peace during and after the Bosnian War. NATO's intervention began as largely political and symbolic, but gradually expanded to include large-scale air operations and the deployment of approximately 60,000 soldiers under Operation Joint Endeavor.

title: Women's Antifascist Front of Bosnia and Herzegovina

text: Prior to the Second World War, the Yugoslav society was overwhelmingly rural, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but even so the position of women was strikingly difficult in the interwar Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Yugoslav anthropologist Vera Stein Ehrlich found that domestic violence was a common occurrence in Orthodox villages, as was bride kidnapping and rape. Bosnia and Herzegovina also stood out in Yugoslavia due to the large proportion of Muslim population. The traditional attire of Bosnian Muslim women prevented them from seeking employment in many shops and factories. A vast majority was illiterate and many health problems were specific to them.

title: Herzegovina

text: Mostar is the best known urban area and the unofficial capital. It is also the only city with over 100,000 citizens. There are no other large cities in Herzegovina, though some have illustrious histories.


query: Does Laos have a president?

title: President of Laos

text: The current president is Bounnhang Vorachit, since 20 April 2016. He is also the General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, making him ranked first in the Politburo hierarchy.

title: LGBT rights in Laos

text: Laos does not recognize same-sex marriages, nor any other form of same-sex union. There have been no known debates of such unions being legalized in the near future, though this does not imply that the government or Laotians are opposed to such unions—the topic has simply yet to come up for debate.

title: Royal Lao Government in Exile

text:
The Royal Lao Government in Exile claims that it is an interim democratic government consisting of eighty representatives from Lao political organizations and associations elected by the Lao people inside Laos and abroad. The Royal Lao Government in Exile is chaired by Professor Khamphoui Sisavatdy, who claims to have previously served in the former Royal Lao Government under H.M. King Savang Vatthana of Laos as a Deputy in the National Assembly and was a Professor of Lao History at Sisavangvong University. In 1972, he traveled to the United States with a Lao delegation to speak to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger concerning a series of proposed Geneva Convention treaties.
The Supreme National Political Council in Exile is reportedly chaired by H.E. Phraya Sithidej (Sithat Sithibourn), former Lao Governor, former Lao Congressman and former President of Political and Law Commission of the Lao National Parliament.

title: LGBT rights in Laos

text: While homosexuality is legal in Laos, it is very difficult to assess the current state of acceptance and violence that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens face, because the government does not allow those who are not associated with the government to conduct polls on human rights. Numerous claims have suggested that Laos is one of the most tolerant communist states at the current time, with a growing acceptance of homosexuality. Despite such progress, discrimination still exists.

title: Pa Kao Her

text: Pa Kao Her (Paj Kaub Hawj) was ethnic Hmong and was born in Nong Het District, Xieng Khouang Province, northern Laos, near the border with Vietnam. He was one of the first followers of his cousin, Shong Lue Yang, also known as the "Mother of Writing", who developed the Pahawh script. Later, he was one of the leaders of the Hmong ChaoFa movement in Laos, along with Zong Zoua Her, after the communist Lao People's Revolutionary Party took power in 1975. He was President of the Ethnic Liberation Organization of Laos (ELOL), an anti-Lao PDR government organization based in Thailand, with a presence in Laos, in the 1980s. Later he became President of the ChaoFa Democratic Party.

title: History of Laos since 1945

text:
In August 1950 the communists established a "front" organisation, the Free Laos Front (Naeo Lao Issara), under the presidency of Suphānuvong. This in turn formed a "Resistance Government of the Lao Homeland." The phrase Pathēt Lao ("Lao Homeland") thus became established as the general name of the Lao communist movement until 1975. The communists shrewdly promoted representatives of the upland ethnic minorities to leadership positions in the Free Laos Front. These included Faidāng Lôbliayao, a leader of the Hmong people of the north, and Sīthon Kommadam, son of the southern rebel Ong Kommadam and a leader of the southern Lao-Thoeng.
Since the communist base areas were mainly inhabited by ethnic minority peoples, this helped consolidate support in these areas. But the communist leadership remained firmly in Lao-Lum hands. When in 1955 a separate Lao communist party was created (the Lao People's Revolutionary Party or Phak Paxāxon Lao), with Kaisôn as General Secretary and Nūhak as his deputy, all the members of the Politburo were Lao-Lum.

title: Flag of Laos

text: The flag of Laos consists of three horizontal stripes, with the middle stripe in blue being twice the height of the top and bottom red stripes. In the middle is a white disc, the diameter of the disc is the height of the blue stripe. The flag ratio is 2:3. The national flag of Laos was first adopted in 1945 under the short-lived Lao Issara government of 1945–46, then by the Pathet Lao. It is one of the two flags of a currently communist country (the other being Cuba) that does not use any communist symbolism and the only current communist country that does not use a five-pointed star in its flag as an emblem. The current flag was adopted on December 2, 1975 when it became a socialist state.

title: Laos

text: The term "Laotian" does not necessarily refer to the Lao language, ethnic Lao people, language or customs. It is a political term that includes the non-ethnic Lao groups within Laos and identifies them as "Laotian" because of their political citizenship. Laos has the youngest population of any country in Asia with a median age of 21.6 years.

title: Women in Laos

text: In recent decades women have made notable inroads into politics. In 1997, Onechanh Thammavong became one of the vice-presidents of the National Assembly of Laos. In March 2011, the National Assembly provided a seminar for forty-seven female candidates in advance of the 7th Lao general elections in April 2011, in order to instil the “significant duties of the national legislature body” in the women.

title: Isan language

text: Isan speakers, similar to Lao speakers in Laos, often pronounce consonantal 'ว' at the start of syllables as , a sound which does not exist in Thai, where the sound is . In Laos, the Lao letter 'ວ' is often pronounced . This trait is considered provincial in Thailand as it deviates from the standard language, but in Laos, the pronunciation is common, but historically was the mark of erudition or nobility. There is no difference in spelling, as this variation is an allophone of , but it is the more common pronunciation overall in Isan and Laos.

title: National Assembly (Laos)

text:
Laos is a one-party state, with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party as the sole legal party in the country. Most of the National Assembly's actions simply rubber stamp the party's decisions. Efforts have been made to increase the capacity of its members, aiming to strengthen their legislative, oversight, and representational capacities.
The National Assembly was established in its current form by the Lao Constitution of 1991, replacing the Supreme People's Assembly (the latter also formerly known as the Supreme People's Council). After the December 1997 elections, the number of seats were increased to 99, a new structure was announced and Samane Vignaket was elected as its president.

title: President of Laos

text: The head of state is the commander-in-chief of the Lao People's Army. Since Laos is a one-party state, with the Lao People's Revolutionary Party being the sole party allowed by the constitution, all the presidents of the People's Democratic Republic have been members of the party while holding office.

title: Isan language

text: The Lao (Isan) language in Thailand is classified by "Ethnologue" as a ""de facto" language of provincial identity" which is defined as a language that "is the language of identity for citizens of the province, but this is not mandated by law. Neither is it developed enough or known enough to function as the language of government business." It continues to be an important regional language for the ethnic Lao and other minorities that live beside them, but it does not have any official status in Thailand. Although the population of Lao speakers is much smaller in Laos, the language there enjoys official status, and it is the primary language of government, business, education, and inter-ethnic communication. Even with close proximity to Laos, Isan speakers must master Thai and very few Isan people can read the Lao script due to lack of exposure.

title: Sisavath Keobounphanh

text: Sisavath Keobounphanh (Lao: ສີສະຫວາດ ແກ້ວບຸນພັນ; born 1 May 1928) was Vice President of Laos from 1996 to 1998 and third Chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister) of Laos from 1998 to 2000. He was succeeded by Bounnhang Vorachith. He is a member of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party and was President of the Lao Front for National Construction from 2001 to 2011, when he was succeeded by Phandoungchit Vongsa.

title: Operation Triangle

text: On 26 June 1964, American Ambassador to Laos Leonard Unger was ambivalent about Operation Triangle's chances of success, but felt the opportunity for victory too good to resist. The planning of the military operation may have been local; however, approval to proceed had to come from the White House, where President Lyndon Baines Johnson was monitoring the situation. In any case, it was planned that three Royal Lao Army columns would converge on the intersection of Routes 7 and 13 in Laos, trapping a Lao communist force. With any luck, the highly strategic Plain of Jars would be left exposed to Royal Lao Government occupation.

title: Vice President of Laos

text: Vice President of Laos is the political position in Laos created in 1996. The Vice President is elected by the National Assembly of Laos.

title: India–Laos relations

text: Since establishment of bilateral ties there has been numerous high level bilateral visits between India and Laos. Recent visit was by Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari in September 2015 where he signed 5 "quick impact projects". Then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Laos in 2004 for 10th ASEAN Summit where he met Laos PM Bounhang Vorachit, agreements regarding 3rd India-ASEAN summit were signed between them. Indian PM Atal Bihari Vajpeyee visited Laos in 2002. Indian President Pratibha Patil visited Laos in 2010. High level visits from Laos to India were, Prince Souphanouvong, who was the first President of Laos, visited India in 1975. In recent times Laos PM Choummaly Sayasone visited India in 2008. There are several other foreign minister and secretary level visits from each country to other.

title: Laos–Philippines relations

text: Lao Prime Ministers Bounnhang Vorachith, Bouasone Bouphavanh and Thongsing Thammavong made their state visit to the Philippines in 2002, June 2007 and May 2012 respectively. Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos visited Laos in October 1997. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited Laos in November 2004 for the ASEAN summit and President Benigno Aquino III visited Laos in November 2012 for the Asia-Europe Meeting Summit. President Rodrigo Duterte visited Laos in September 2016, his first international trip as president, to attend the 48th and 49th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits and the Eleventh East Asia Summit.

title: President of Laos

text: The president represents Laos internally and externally, supervises the work as well as preserving the stability of the national governmental system and safeguards the independence and territorial integrity of the country. The President appoints the prime minister, vice president, ministers and other officials with the consent of the National Assembly.

title: India–Laos relations

text: On 3 day India visit of Laos President Choummaly Sayasone in 2008, India decided to establish an "Air Force Academy" in Laos. India also gifted 50 parachutes to "Lao Defence Forces" on its 60th anniversary in 2009. India held its Surya Kiran air show at Laos.

title: President of Laos

text: List of monarchs of Laos Prime Minister of Laos

title: United League for Democracy in Laos

text: The ULDL and its President Bounthanh Rathigna have provided information to and urged the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to investigate ongoing religious persecution and religious freedom violations in Laos and to officially designated Laos as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC). In 2003, Laotian- and Hmong-Americans lauded the USCIRF's efforts in officially designating Laos as a CPC violator of international norms of religious freedom for its persecution of independent and dissident Lao and Hmong Christians, Catholic, Animist and Buddhist religious believers.

title: Legacies of War

text: During the summer of 2016, in anticipation of President Barack Obama's September visit to Laos for the ASEAN summit, Legacies ran a campaign to raise awareness surrounding the UXO issue based on President Barack Obama’s September visit to Laos for the ASEAN summit. President Obama’s visit was the first by a sitting US President to Laos. While speaking in Laos, Obama directly acknowledged the Legacies of War founder, Channapha Khamvongsa, for her work to “fix this problem”. In the same speech, Obama made a pledge to increase U.S. funding to $30 million a year for 2016, 2017, and 2018, for the cleanup of UXO in Laos.

title: Lao Evangelical Church

text: Since the early 1990s there has been much corruption in the church and much of it has been related to the authority of the President of the LEC. According to a report LAOS: SITUATION ANALYSIS AND TREND ASSESSMENT, A Writenet Report by Grant Evans commissioned by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Protection Information Section (DIP) written in May 2004 states the following things: "the Khunta Panya family from Savannakhet, a member of which continues to control the single protestant organization established under the Lao Front after 1975, the Lao Evangelical Church (LEC)." and "The LEC under the Khunta Panya family has developed an independent strand of Lao Protestantism which is very strict." and "The continued family control of the LEC is ensured both by its authoritarian organization, and by the LFNC whose top down structure it mirrors. The symbiosis between the two is shown by the fact that the LEC operates asa gatekeeper for the LFNC vis-à-vis new and competing protestant groups, such as the Lutherans, the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Baptists, all of whom would have to be approved by the LFNC before they could operate legally inside the country. For example, the Methodists recently tried to petition for recognition by taking the bold step of bussing followers from 11 out of the country’s 18 provinces to the LFNC offices in Vientiane. LFNC officials have been bewildered when confronted by all these different strands of “Christianity”. The current President is still Rev. Dr. Khamphone Khuntapanya.

title: President of Laos

text: The office of the President of the People's Democratic Republic traces its lineage back to Prince Souphanouvong, the first President of the People's Democratic Republic, a member of the deposed royal family, who became President when the former Kingdom of Laos was overthrow by the Pathet Lao in 1975, at the end of the Laotian Civil War.

title: Foreign relations of Laos

text: Lao Prime Ministers Bounnhang Vorachith, Bouasone Bouphavanh and Thongsing Thammavong made their state visit to the Philippines in 2002, June 2007 and May 2012 respectively. Philippine Presidents Fidel V. Ramos visited Laos in October 1997. Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo visited Laos in November 2004 for the ASEAN summit and Philippine President Benigno Aquino III visited Laos in November 2012 for the Asia-Europe Meeting Summit.

title: History of Laos since 1945

text: The communist party retains a monopoly of political power, but leaves the operation of the economy to market forces, and does not interfere in the daily lives of the Lao people provided they do not challenge its rule. Attempts to police the religious, cultural, economic and sexual activities of the people have been largely abandoned, although Christian evangelism is officially discouraged. The media is state controlled, but most Lao have free access to Thai radio and television (Thai and Lao are mutually comprehensible languages), which gives them news from the outside world.

title: Isan language

text: Western Lao does not occur in Laos, but can be found in Kalasin, Maha Sarakham, and Roi Et Provinces.The original written language of Isan was known as "Akson Tai Noy" (อักษรไทน้อย , cf. Lao ອັກສອນໄທນ້ອຽ/Archaic ອັກສອນໄທນ້ຽ, "Aksone Tai Noy"), the 'Little Tai alphabet' or "To Lao" (โตลาว , cf. Lao ໂຕລາວ, modern Isan "Tua Lao" ตัวลาว , cf. modern Lao "Toua Lao" ຕົວລາວ), 'Lao letters.' In Laos, the older variety of the alphabet is generally known as "Aksone Lao Deum" (ອັກສອນລາວເດີມ , cf. Isan อักษรลาวเดิม), 'original Lao alphabet.' The original spelling conventions and letter shapes were more or less preserved in the modern Lao alphabet, its direct descendant. Both the Tai Noy—and its modern descendant—and the Thai alphabet both developed from early Tai scripts adapted from the Khmer script, with influences from Mon.

title: Operation Barrel Roll

text: That changed, however, with the publication of the "Pentagon Papers", which disclosed the earliest stages of "Yankee Team", "Barrel Roll", and the Thai commitment. President Richard M. Nixon was eventually forced to disclose the extent of U.S. participation, which further weakened ability of the U.S. to respond to the increasing PAVN and Pathet Lao threat. The spring of 1972 was not a happy one in either Washington D.C. or Vientiane. A U.S. Congressional delegation, after investigating the situation on the ground in Laos, reported that "No one we met in Laos, American or Lao, seemed to have any prescription for the future other than to continue what's being done now."

title: Time in Laos

text: Time in Laos is given by Indochina Time (ICT) (). Laos does not currently observe daylight saving time.

title: President of Laos

text: The President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic is the head of state of Laos.


query: Can a Eurasian eagle-owl kill a rabbit?

title: Dietary biology of the Eurasian eagle-owl

text: In the Iberian peninsula, the Eurasian eagle-owl is part of a complex guild of predators that have evolved to survive mostly on European rabbits. Among this guild, golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos) were recorded per one study to rely on rabbits for 40% of the diet, the eagle-owl for 49% of the diet, the Spanish imperial eagle (Aquila adalberti) for 50% of the diet, the Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata) for 61% of the diet and the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) for 79% of the diet.[2] Elsewhere, the Spanish imperial eagle and eagle-owl are considered to outflank the golden and even the Bonelli's eagle as the most specialized avian predator of rabbits in the Iberian region.[13] Other predators, such as common buzzard (Buteo buteo), northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) black kite (Milvus migrans) Iberian wildcat (Felis silvestris tartessia), red fox, stone marten (Martes foina) and introduced Egyptian mongoose also prey heavily on rabbits in Spain, but are more generalized and less reliant than the above predators.[117][118][119][120] All these powerful predators do not generally compete directly for food but conflicts may ensue over the rights to territories and nesting sites amongst the birds. Being nocturnal in activity, however, the Eurasian eagle-owl does not tend to compete as directly as do the three eagle species and even these are discreetly segregated by habitat preferences, the goldens preferring open, steep cliffs, the Bonelli's favoring densely vegetated areas mixed with rocky spots and the imperial favoring relatively flat open woodlands.[121] Among these eagles, the golden eagle tends to have the most similar habitat preferences to the Eurasian eagle-owl and across a broad band of overlapping distribution, the two are considered nearly ecological equivalents by day and night. However, good-sized female golden eagles are up to twice as heavy as an average eagle-owl, so seem to have a considerable advantage in size and power.[2] Conversely, to support their large size and large territory needs, the golden eagle cannot survive on small and diverse prey nearly as successfully as the eagle-owl. Among the Iberian peninsula rabbit-eating guild, the species with wider ranges, the eagle-owl and the golden and Bonelli's eagles, have had some degree of success living off of alternate prey following the devastation of the rabbit population due to rabbit haemorrhagic disease. The two rabbit predators endemic to Iberia, the Iberian lynx and Spanish imperial eagle, have been devastated by the reduction and other causes and both are threatened species today.[122][123][124][125]

text: Throughout the western Mediterranean region, the Eurasian Eagle-Owl is something of a specialist on a single prey species: the European rabbit. The rabbit historically reached extremely high densities in Iberian scrub, i.e. more than 40 per every 1 square hectare (2471 square acres). In central Spain, up to 73.1% of the prey that were recorded for Eurasian eagle-owls, by number, can be rabbits.[20][60] Where still available, they are also the main prey in Portugal and central France.[61][62] However, following the devastation of the wild rabbit due to rabbit haemorrhagic disease, the local eagle-owls have frequently had to adapt to other, often smaller, prey. On the other hand, given the now much reduced numbers of rabbits, the eagle-owls still regularly select rabbits, seemingly out of proportion to their commonality.[63] Although large mature wild rabbits commonly weigh 1,700 to 2,400g (3.7 to 5.3lb), the eagle-owls usually hunt smaller specimens, often with an average weight around 1,000g (2.2lb), with young rabbits usually selected in spring and summer and subadults selected in the autumn and winter.[64] This is largely due to the behaviour of rabbits, with younger rabbits being forced to distribute following weaning, being less cautious in behaviour and occupying less primary habitat, thus being forced out of the confines of their burrows more regularly than mature adults.[64][65] However, the estimated average weight of rabbits taken can be variable, reported from as little as 800g (1.8lb) in a study from Spain to as much as 1,900g (4.2lb) in the Netherlands.[20][58]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: Apparently, the point at which the chicks venture out of the nest is driven by the location of the nest. In elevated nest sites, chicks usually wander out of the nest at 5 to as late as 7 weeks of age, but have been recorded leaving the nest if the nest is on the ground as early as 22 to 25 days old.[14] The chicks can walk well at five weeks of age and by seven weeks are taking short flights. Hunting and flying skills are not tested prior to the young eagle-owls leaving the nest. Young Eurasian eagle-owls leave the nest by 5–6 weeks of age and typically can be flying weakly (a few metres) by about 7–8 weeks of age. Normally, they are cared for at least another month. By the end of the month, the young eagle-owls are quite assured fliers.[6] There are a few confirmed cases of adult eagle-owls in Spain feeding and caring for post-fledgling juvenile eagle-owls that were not their own.[81]

text: Discreet habitat preferences may coincidentally spare many owls, as owls from the genera Strix, Glaucidium, Aegolius and the 320g (11oz) northern hawk-owl (Surnia ulula) tend to restrict both nesting and their hunting forays to more enclosed areas of woodland than habitats inhabited by the eagle-owls.[112][132] Meanwhile, Asio, Otus, Athene and barn owls owls tend to hunt in more open habitats than the edges favored by eagle-owls.[2] However, habitat preferences are never enough to spare any of these genera from predation by the great eagle-owl. In the Italian Alps, despite differing habitat preferences and partially overlapping prey, several tawny owls were killed by eagle-owls.[133] Woodland nesting owl species tend to nest in tree hollows, many of which are too small for an eagle-owl to access, so are somewhat less likely to be picked off at their nests. Open-country owls that tend to nest in open-access nesting sites like short-eared owls and little owls may be somewhat more vulnerable at the nest. The great numbers of long-eared owls taken, since it often nest in dense, protective thickets, are probably adult or immature owls attempting to hunt. In Europe, Eurasian eagle-owls are generally the only owls to regularly nest in rocky habitats. This is not the case in arid desert-like regions, where limited nesting options frequently force diverse owls to use rocky areas as nesting sites.[3][112] However, the cliffs and other rocky areas preferred by Eurasian eagle-owls are also utilized by several species of diurnal raptor in Eurasia. In Spain, golden eagles, Bonelli's eagles and peregrine falcons (Falco peregrinus) most often nest on cliffs. Large scavenging birds such as cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus), bearded vultures (Gypaetus barbatus), Eurasian griffons (Gyps fulvus), Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and common ravens also often nests on the same Iberian cliffs. While the two eagles nested at great distances from one another (they are known to be territorial towards each other), the eagle-owl nesting within 2 to 3km (1.2 to 1.9mi) of the other species. In these cliff nests, the only considerable predatory interaction was the eagle-owls appearing to predate the peregrine falcons.[134] In the Tibetan Plateau, upland buzzards (Buteo hemilasius) also seem to favor similar habitats and both the eagle-owl and buzzard take similar prey there.[50] In general, the eagle-owl can nest closer to diurnal raptors because, as a nocturnal animal, it will not actively compete for territories as it would with other members of its own species.[2]

text: Other than these two species, a large share of the raptorial prey for eagle-owls is made up of other owls. Given that all European owls are to some extent nocturnal, they may be encountered and killed upon detection by the Eurasian eagle-owl. In Europe, it has killed every other species of owl, from the tiny pygmy owl and scops owl to the large 1,078g (2.377lb) great grey owl and the 2,040g (4.50lb) snowy owl.[126] The Eurasian eagle-owl is the only raptor that has been known to prey on snowy owl on multiple occasions.[95][112][126] However, the threat Eurasian eagle-owls poses to other raptors can be exaggerated.[129] Occasionally, with adequate mammal prey populations, they can nest as close as a few dozen meters of other raptors and never harass them.[112] When nesting in the same groves as the 1,175g (2.590lb) long-legged buzzards (Buteo rufinus) in southeastern Bulgaria, Eurasian eagle-owls did not predate the buzzards at any point.[95][130] Long-legged buzzards have been killed however in Kazakhstan.[77] Even in those occasional cases where they pick off one or several raptors, they do not effect the overall population, unless the raptorial prey is already heavily diminished due to some other (often human-based) cause. For example, despite both being a known predator of both, they did not significantly depress numbers of either northern goshawks or tawny owls in southern Finland.[129] One study showed that many raptors engage in spatial avoidance during potential encounters with Eurasian eagle-owls and while the predation by eagle-owls did decrease raptor population densities, they seldom caused declines in breeding success or altered habitat occupancy.[131]

text: The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) may well be the most powerful extant species of owl, able to attack and kill large prey far beyond the capacities of most other living owls. However, the species is even more marked for its ability to live on more diverse prey than possibly any other comparably sized raptorial bird, which, given its considerable size, is almost fully restricted to eagles. This species can adapt to surprisingly small prey where it is the only kind available and to large prey where it is abundant. Eurasian eagle-owls feed most commonly on small mammals weighing 100g (0.22lb) or more, although nearly 45% of the prey species recorded have an average adult body mass of less than 100g (3.5oz). Usually 55-80% of the food of eagle-owls is mammalian.[1][2]

title: Verreaux's eagle-owl

text: Despite the alternate common name of giant eagle-owl, the Verreaux's eagle-owl is not the largest owl or eagle-owl in the world. It is, however, a very large and powerful owl species. This species is both the largest owl found in Africa and the world's largest owl to occur in the tropics. Among all the world's owls, it is fourth heaviest living owl, after Blakiston's fish owl ("Bubo blakistoni"), the Eurasian eagle-owl ("Bubo bubo") and the tawny fish owl ("Bubo flavipes"), and is also the fourth longest living owl (measured from the bill to the tip of the tail), after the great gray ("Strix nebulosa"), Blakiston's fish and Eurasian eagle-owls. Based on body mass and wing chord length, Verreaux's eagle-owl is about the same size as "medium-sized" races of Eurasian eagle-owl, such as those from Central Asian steppe ("B. b. turcomanus") and the Himalayas ("B. b. hemachalana"), slightly smaller than most northern Eurasian races, considerably smaller than Siberian and Russian eagle-owls, and somewhat larger than the smallest Eurasian eagle-owl subspecies, such as those from the Iberian Peninsula ("B. b. hispanus") and the Middle East ("B. b. omissus" or "nikolskii").

text: The Eurasian eagle-owl is a very formidable bird of prey but its diet broadly overlaps with other European owls. All species of owl in the Europe and northern Asia hunt rodents, as does the eagle-owl, and in many the very same microtine rodents such as voles and lemmings will be favored.[95][112][113] Even the 58.5g (2.06oz) Eurasian pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum), at a whooping one-fortieth of the weight of an eagle-owl, will take much the same rodent prey as eagle-owls in adjacent habitats.[2][95] The only European owls to favor non-rodent prey are the 92g (3.2oz) European scops owl (Otus scops) and 169g (6.0oz) little owl (Athene noctua), both of which most regularly consume invertebrates. However, little owls also take rodents and small mammals, especially in the winter months (while scops owl migrate to Africa for the winter).[3] The European owls with the most similar diets to eagle-owls are 475g (1.047lb) tawny (Strix aluco) and 785g (1.731lb) Ural owls (Strix uralensis), although both are considerably smaller and less powerful and more specialized to hunt in wooded environments. These two Strix species are highly territorial and sedentary like the eagle-owl and capable of taking a broad range of prey, including good numbers of birds and larger prey such as rabbits (for the tawny owl) and hares (for the Ural owl) of up to at least twice their own weight.[2] Studies have indicated that even while selected similar prey species as the eagle-owl, smaller owls including the long-eared, tawny and Ural owls select smaller individual prey items, being more likely to take small, juveniles rather than optimal, large adults as does the eagle-owl.[95][114][115] Similar rodent prey is also often taken by many diurnal birds of prey, especially buzzards, harriers and small falcons.[116] However, due its greater size and power than overlapping owls and smaller diurnal raptors, it generally takes more diverse and larger prey than most overlapping raptorial birds.[2]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: Even those near the northern limits of their range, where winters are harsh and likely to bear little in food, the eagle-owl does not leave its native range. There are cases from Russia of Eurasian eagle-owls moving south for the winter, as the icebound, infamously harsh climate there is too severe even for these hardy birds and their prey. Similarly, Eurasian eagle-owls living in the Tibetan highlands and Himalayas may in some cases vacate their normal territories when winter hits and move south. Even in those two examples, there is no evidence of consistent, annual migration by Eurasian eagle-owls and the birds may eke out a living on their normal territories even in the sparsest times.[5][6]

text: Equally or even more so than the great horned owl, the Eurasian eagle-owl is a threat to any smaller type of raptor it encounters, whether other owls or diurnal birds of prey. All told, more than 20 species of accipitrid, 15 species of owl and 9 species of falcon have been found amongst their prey. The Eurasian eagle-owl is the primary predator of other birds of prey throughout Eurasia, not even the prolific raptor-killing northern goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) equals the sheer number of raptors taken.[79][126][127] Up to 6% of the overall food by number and 36% by prey biomass for Eurasian eagle-owls can be comprised by other raptorial birds.[2][79] The primary raptorial prey taken by Eurasian eagle-owls in Europe are two species: the 300g (11oz) long-eared owl and the 776g (1.711lb) common buzzard.[2][95] Both are taken in such large numbers that they rank in the top five most regularly hunted bird species in Europe. In Luxembourg, the long-eared owl and common buzzard were the fourth and fifth most regularly hunted prey species.[96] Other high rankings have included the long-eared owl being the fourth most regular prey species in Bavaria and the buzzard being the third most regular prey species in a study from the Czech Republic.[75][128] While migrating, long-eared owls appear to select areas to move through partially based on whether or not eagle-owls are detected, thus eagle-owls have a very serious influence on the behaviour of this prey.[15] Despite the large numbers taken of both of these, the more scarce eagle-owl does not seem to have a serious deleterious effect on their overall population, especially compared to anthropogenic factors.[2][126]

title: White-tailed eagle

text: Although other birds of prey are seldom caught, given that they are wary, fast and can defend themselves well, the white-tailed eagle can be characterized as an opportunistic predator of such birds. Indicating that they are regarded as a threat to raptors is that they are frequently mobbed by a wide range of raptor species when displaying active flights, to a similar regard that the perhaps more aggressively predatory golden eagle is. Given the difficulty of this prey type, white-tailed eagles are likely to attack other birds of prey when the victims are distracted, whether by migration on windy days, nesting duties or when trying to capture their own prey, are previously injured or they may even capture one while the raptor tries to mob the eagle. Certainly, nestlings and fledglings can certainly comprise a large fraction of the birds of prey caught as well as adult ones. Other accipitrids they are known to have preyed upon, in increasing order of size are the Eurasian sparrowhawk ("Accipiter nisus"), western marsh harrier ("Circus aeruginosus"), black kite ("Milvus migrans"), European honey-buzzard ("Pernis apivorus"), common buzzard ("Buteo buteo"), northern goshawk, red kite ("Milvus milvus"), lesser spotted eagle ("Clanga pomarina") and eastern imperial eagle, in addition to osprey. Non-accipitrid raptorial birds, these more likely restricted to fully independent birds due to their less conspicuous nests, known to fall prey to white-tailed eagles include Eurasian pygmy owl ("Glaucidium passerinum"), boreal owl ("Aegolius funereus"), Eurasian hobby ("Falco subbuteo"), long-eared owl (Asio otus), northern hawk owl ("Surnia ulula"), short-eared owl ("Asio flammeus"), peregrine falcon ("Falco peregrinus"), snowy owl ("Bubo scandiacus") and Eurasian eagle owl ("Bubo bubo"). Accipitrid prey size ranges by body mass ranges from for a sparrowhawk to in the imperial eagle and that of non-accipitrid raptors ranges from for the pygmy owl to for the eagle owl and apparently both imperial eagles and eagle owls that were caught were adults. As true apex predators, healthy adult white-tailed eagles have no known natural predators.

text: Hunting mainly consist of the owl watching from a perch for prey activity and then swooping down swiftly once prey is spotted. The prey is often killed quickly by the eagle owl's powerful grip and talons though is sometimes bitten on the head to be killed as well.[3] Then the prey item is swallowed whole or torn into pieces with the bill. The same basic hunting and killing methods are used by all owls in the Bubo genus, except that the snowy owls (Bubo scandiacus) and fish owls regularly watch for prey from a ground position (on a bank in the case of fish owls).[2][4] Most hunting occurs in wood-cloaked openings, often those carved out by wetlands or watersheds. While they can and do hunt within woodlands, they are not well suited to hunting in areas with dense understories, thick foliage or tree thickets, as they seem to hunt firstly by vision and only secondarily by sounds, unlike some other owls. Eurasian eagle-owls are too heavy with relatively modest wing areas to hunt extensively on the wing although this species’ relatively short, broad wings allow it low-speed maneuverability in the moments are it takes off after they spot a prey item. Because of the limits of its flying abilities, the Eurasian eagle-owl requires ample, elevated perches from which to watch for prey activity and thus in most areas it will not hunt extensively in open, treeless areas, unlike smaller owls like the barn owl (Tyto alba). Tree branches are often the main hunting perches used but they will also use rock formations, rubble with large rocks, hills with tall grasses or even a building, tall pole or other elevated manmade perch.[2][5][6][7] Occasionally, they may capture other birds on the wing, including nocturnal migrants, taking advantage of their distraction and diminished visual acuity to intercept them in mid-flight.[5] They seem to hunt mostly by opportunity, taking whatever detectable prey item that is available, preferably those that are active.[2] Most prey, even up to the size of small rabbits, are swallowed whole.[8] While a small rodent can easily be swallowed in an instant, if the prey item is large, the swallowing process can appear grueling and grotesque and in some cases eagle-owl nestlings have choked to death while attempting to swallow overly large prey (i.e. moorhens).[3][8] Small prey is often swallowed immediately after capture, although occasionally it is carried in the bill to the nest for the young or to a roost for quick consumption. Larger prey is normally carried in the owl's feet and is more likely than smallish prey to be brought to the nest due to its nutritional value.[3] Exceptionally large prey (probably any over 3,000g (6.6lb)) is consumed on the ground where it is killed, possibly being torn apart into manageable pieces. This leaves the owl vulnerable to loss of their prey to scavengers or to confrontations with heavier predators.[3] The undigestable portions of prey are regurgitated in the form of pellets as in all owls. Pellets of the Eurasian eagle-owl average around 75mm ×32mm (3.0in ×1.3in), thus they are around the same size as those of most other large Bubo owls, even the notably smaller great horned owl (B. virginianus). In some cases, pellets of Bubo owls can range up to 150mm (5.9in) in length.[3][9] Eagle-owl pellets average slightly larger (about 10%) than those of great grey owls (Strix nebulosa).[10] As is the case with all owls, pellets are indisputably the best method to examine the main diversity of prey consumed by an owl. However, it is also important to examine the prey remains left around a roost or nest when available. Larger prey, which may be torn apart before the eating of portions or fleshy parts of the prey item, is frequently determined solely by remains rather pellets as are birds, in which the wings, feet and some feathers may be removed before consumption.[8][11] As in the great horned owl, after capturing larger prey, the Eurasian eagle-owl often beheads it. In part, this may be due to making prey easier to carry off and, in both large owl species, it is considered a signature indicator for predator identification.[12][13][14]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: The Eurasian eagle-owl is a very large bird, smaller than the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) but larger than the snowy owl, despite some overlap in size with both species. It is sometimes referred to as the world's largest owl,[4][11] although Blakiston's fish owl (B. blakistoni) is slightly heavier on average and the much lighter weight great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) is slightly longer on average.[6][12][13] Heimo Mikkola reported the largest specimens of eagle-owl as having the same upper body mass, 4.6kg (10lb), as the largest Blakiston’s fish owl and attained a length of around 3cm (1.2in) longer.[4][14] In terms of average weight and wing size, the Blakiston’s is the slightly larger species seemingly, even averaging a bit larger in these aspects than the biggest eagle-owl races from Russia.[6][13] Also, although 9cm (3.5in) shorter than the largest of the latter species, the Eurasian eagle-owl can weigh well more than twice as much as the largest great grey owl.[4][15] The Eurasian eagle-owl typically has a wingspan of 131–188cm (4ft 4in–6ft 2in),[4] with the largest specimens possibly attaining 200cm (6ft 7in).[16][17][18][19] The total length of the species can vary from 56 to 75cm (22 to 30in).[4][6][20] Females can weigh from 1.75 to 4.6kg (3.9 to 10.1lb) and males can weigh from 1.22 to 3.2kg (2.7 to 7.1lb).[4][21] In comparison, the barn owl (Tyto alba), the world's most widely distributed owl species, weighs about 500g (1.1lb) and the great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), which fills the eagle-owl's ecological niche in North America, weighs around 1.4kg (3.1lb).[22]

title: European hedgehog

text: European hedgehogs may live to ten years of age, although the average life expectancy is three years. Starvation is the most common cause of death, usually occurring during hibernation. If alarmed, the animal will roll into a ball to protect itself. Many potential predators are repelled by its spines, but predation does occur. Remains of hedgehogs have been found in the stomachs of European badgers ("Meles meles"), red foxes ("Vulpes vulpes") and pine martens ("Martes martes"). A large portion of these may be from hedgehog carcasses, especially road-kill. However, hedgehogs tend to be absent from areas where badgers are numerous. Eurasian eagle-owls ("Bubo bubo") and golden eagles ("Aquila chrysaetos") are the only regular avian predators of this species and may even prefer them as prey. The owl, after grabbing the hedgehog by its face, tends to skin the mammal's prickly back with its talons before consumption, resulting in several hedgehog backs being found around eagle-owl roosts and nests. In Spain, reduction of European rabbit ("Oryctolagus cuniculus") numbers due to rabbit haemorrhagic disease has made the European hedgehog one of the top preferred prey species for eagle-owls. Elsewhere, eagle-owls often prefer these hedgehogs to any other prey species, as the hedgehog can comprise up to 23% by number and 30.7% by biomass of eagle-owl prey remains. On the Swedish island of Gotland the golden eagle may take larger numbers of hedgehogs than any other prey due to an otherwise low diversity of native land mammals, although the introduction of European rabbits has shifted the eagle's prey preferences there.

title: Dietary biology of the golden eagle

text: Owls, which may have dissimilar periods of activity, are not entirely exempt from golden eagle predation either. Several species have been recorded as prey, especially in Northern Europe, Slovakia (where owls make up 2.4% of prey remains) and some parts of the Western United States. Species hunted have ranged in size from tiny Eurasian pygmy owl ("Glaucidium passerinum") and little owl ("Athene noctua") to the formidable, large great horned, Eurasian eagle and great gray owls ("Strix nebulosa"). Barn owls ("Tyto alba") have been predated by golden eagles in both North America and Eurasia. On Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands, barn owls made up 4.5% of the diet, the largest known occurrence of that species in the eagles' diet. However, the great horned owl is the owl species that occurs most regularly in the diet of North American golden eagles. In Europe, golden eagles are relatively minor predators of owls compared to Eurasian eagle-owls and northern goshawks. The primary owls hunted by European eagles are Ural owls ("Strix uralensis") and short-eared owls ("Asio flammeus"). Few eye-witness accounts are known of owl predation, but one violent mid-day confrontation between a golden eagle and an adult great horned owl was witnessed in Jefferson County, Colorado. Although this owl was about a third of the eagle's weight, it was able to land some damaging blows on the larger bird. In the end, despite its wounds, the eagle was victorious over the dead owl. A case of kleptoparasitism by a golden eagle on a great horned owl has been recorded. Although the Eurasian eagle-owl is preyed upon by golden eagles (4 confirmed cases of golden eagles killing eagle-owls in Europe), in one case a golden eagle (age unspecified) was found amongst the prey in an eagle-owl nest.

text: Most dietary studies place the average weight of Eurasian eagle-owl prey in the zone of 100 to 500g (0.22 to 1.10lb), thus the species fits well within the rule of thumb that most prey weigh no more than 20% of the raptorial bird's own weight.[17][23][24] It should be noted that the average prey weight in comparison to the eagle-owl's body mass is reportedly average and unremarkable for both owls and raptors in general, the average prey per one study was 7.2% of the eagle-owls’ body mass.[19] The European raptorial birds most likely to attack prey of a relatively large size compared to themselves were the black kite (Milvus migrans), whose average prey was 35.7% of its own weight, and the Eurasian pygmy owl (Glaucidium passerinum), whose average prey was 31.7% of its own weight.[19] On the other hand, when rabbit numbers were at their peak, the average prey mass in Spain may range up to at least 55% of the eagle-owls’ own body mass in that population.[20][25] A raptorial prey comparison estimated that the mean prey weight for eagle-owls in Europe was 294.7g (10.40oz) as a mean among 5 main regions, the highest of any owl but similar or slightly lighter than the European average for northern goshawks (Accipiter gentilis) and considerably lower only than two widespread European eagles. Per that study the average prey weight of the great horned owl in 4 North American regions was much lower (averaging only 64g (2.3oz)).[19] In Mediterranean scrub, the average mammalian prey of the Eurasian eagle-owl was nearly five times heavier than those of great horned owls from similar habitats in Chile, California and Colorado, where in combination the horned owl's mammalian food averaged 230g (8.1oz).[20] However, a comparison between eagle- and horned owls based upon six comparable biomes in the Americas and Eurasia found the great horned owl's prey averaged 372g (13.1oz), improbably slightly higher than the eagle-owl at 327g (11.5oz).[17] If known Asian studies are mixed with European ones, the average prey weight for the Eurasian eagle-owl overall may also roughly be 372g (13.1oz).[2][17] Among sympatric owls in Europe, the mean prey weight of long-eared owls (Asio otus) was found to be 32g (1.1oz), the tawny owl (Strix aluco) took prey weighing a mean of 34.5g (1.22oz) (though locally can be as high as 130g (4.6oz)) and short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) mean prey weigh was 35g (1.2oz).[2] A study in Finland seeking to distinguish the differences in prey taken by females and smaller male eagle-owls found that the two sexes prey averaged 828g (1.825lb) and 575g (1.268lb), respectively. The species taken as food by the two sexes there were largely the same but the female simply often caught the larger prey individuals.[26]

text: Generally speaking, there appears to be rather strictly adhered size hierarchy among birds of prey and the very largest raptorial prey attacked by Eurasian eagle-owl tend to roughly equal to their own size. Larger raptors, such as eagles and vultures, seem to be largely invulnerable to eagle-owls. However, in Scandinavia, there are two cases of eagle-owls preying on “fairly large” nestlings of white-tailed eagles (Haliaeetus albicilla).[126] Given the size, average adult weight of 4,780g (10.54lb), and formidable character of this eagle, it is possible that the young of other raptors larger than themselves may too be attacked. Eastern imperial eagles (Aquila heliaca), which are nearly as large as the white-tailed eagle at an average weight of 3,215g (7.088lb), have been killed by eagle-owls in Kazakhstan.[139] Remarkable, considering the greater threat that the eagle normally poses to the eagle-owl than vica versa, it appeared a golden eagle was amongst the prey remains found around a nest in the French Pyrenees.[140] Cases in Spain where large, formidable birds of prey, the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and Bonelli's eagle, that are roughly equal in size to the eagle-owls, both weighing just over 2,000g (4.4lb), have been predated, these seem to be taken from the nest or shortly after independence and rare occurrences.[60][141] However, in Turkey, the eagle-owl is apparently a regular and serious predator of Bonelli's eagles.[142] The Eurasian eagle-owl predates the largest members of the most species-rich diurnal raptor genera: the 900g (2.0lb) northern goshawks from the Accipiter genus, the 1,375g (3.031lb) upland buzzards from the Buteo genus and the 1,460g (3.22lb) gyrfalcons (F. rusticolus) of the Falco genus.[112] Additional large raptors, i.e. those that can average 1,000g (2.2lb) or more in body mass, taken as prey include 1,485g (3.274lb) osprey (Pandion haliaetus), the 1,080g (2.38lb) red kites (Milvus milvus), 1,700g (3.7lb) short-toed eagles (Circaetus gallicus), the 2,205g (4.861lb) greater spotted eagle (Clanga clanga), the 1,370g (3.02lb) lesser spotted eagle (Clanga pomarina), and the rough-legged buzzards (Buteo lagopus) and saker falcons (Falco cherrug), in both of which females average more than 1,000g (2.2lb).[2][60][139][143][144][145] The taking of rough-legged buzzards and snowy owls must be confined to full-grown victims, since they nest further north than Eurasian eagle-owls.[2] Eurasian eagle-owls also hunt the smallest raptors available, including those such as lesser kestrels (Falco naumanni) and Japanese sparrowhawks (Accipiter gularis) that weigh less than 150g (5.3oz).[83] Some of these are cases of eagle-owls killing nestlings or fledglings but they can easily overtake adult buzzards, goshawks and falcons of any size.[2]

text: A very large balance of the prey range can also be comprised by birds and other prey including reptiles, amphibians, fish, insects and other invertebrates are seemingly taken whenever they are available. All told, well more than 600 different species have been identified as prey of Eurasian eagle-owls.[2][17][18] Their diet includes basically all the same prey as all sympatric diurnal raptors in the genera Buteo, Aquila and Haliaeetus. The total number of prey species may even surpass that of the great horned owl and may well be the greatest of any raptorial bird on the Eurasian continent.[2] Among five segments of Europe the average prey diversity per region was 63 species, a higher number than any of the other 40 raptorial bird species studied there.[19] The mean mass of prey per study has varied from as little as 84.2g (2.97oz), near the now former Aral Sea in Turkmenistan with the Turkmen jerboa (Jaculus turkmenicus) being the primary prey species, to 1,037.9g (2.288lb), in Spain with the European rabbit being the primary prey species.[17][20] Remarkably, in northern Spain, where the rabbit is now extirpated (as was the eagle-owl for a time in the 20th century), the average weight of prey can dip as low as 87g (3.1oz).[21] In comparison, the lightest mean prey mass in dietary studies of the great horned owl was 22.5g (0.79oz) while the highest was 610.4g (1.346lb).[17][22]

text: Hedgehogs often comprise a fairly significant portion of the prey taken by Eurasian eagle-owls, both in numbers and biomass. At least eight species of hedgehog have been predated. The European hedgehog is often one of the most prominent prey species in eagle-owl diet studies from Europe, and was recorded as the most numerous prey species per researchers in parts of Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and south Germany. With an average weight of 500 to 1,000g (1.1 to 2.2lb), the European hedgehog can comprise a very large portion of the biomass.[18][27][57][72] A study of the Bavarian region of Germany, the European hedgehog (the main prey species) made up 41.7% of the prey by number and 52.1% of the biomass, the maximum representation of hedgehogs known in Europe.[73] Other members of the Erinaceus genus are also locally regularly taken, as is the 575g (1.268lb) Daurian hedgehog (Mesechinus dauuricus) in Mongolia.[51] Studies from Greece and the Czech Republic found that the northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus) was the leading prey species.[74][75] Unidentified Erinaceus hedgehogs almost totally dominated the diet of eagle-owls in Stavropol, Russia, making up 70.9% of the food, only the European rabbit has been found as more significant at the genera level by number in a given dietary study.[76] Studies from both Syria and Kazakhstan showed that the 365g (12.9oz) long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) was the most significant prey, making up 25.3% and 33.6% of the prey remains, respectively.[48][77] After killing hedgehogs, the Eurasian eagle-owls peel the prickly skin off their backs before consumption, frequently resulting in up to dozens of hedgehog backs being found around nests.[3][48][58] Moles and shrews are readily hunted but are usually only a secondary portion of the diet. Eurasian eagle-owls have been recorded hunting the smallest mammal on earth (by weight) the 1.8g (0.063oz) Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), as well as the largest mole on earth, the 440g (16oz) Russian desman (Desmana moschata).[18][20] From the smallest shrew to the heaviest hedgehog, the Eurasian eagle-owl has been verified to hunt the full size range of insectivores. They've also attacked bats of every size available, from the smallest European bat, the 5.7g (0.20oz) common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), to the largest species there, the 59g (2.1oz) greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus). In the Sikhote-Alin range of the Russian Far East, bats were found to comprise 5.9% of the remains and, of five local owl species, the Eurasian eagle-owl was the most regular predator of bats in the area.[78]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: Long-eared owls in Eurasia have vertical striping like that of the Eurasian eagle-owl while long-eared owls in North America show a more horizontal striping like that of great horned owls. Whether these are examples of mimicry either way is unclear but it is known that both Bubo owls are serious predators of long-eared owls. The same discrepancy in underside streaking has also been noted in the Eurasian and American representations of the grey owl.[6] A few other related species overlap minimally in range in Asia, mainly in east Asia and the southern reaches of the Eurasian eagle-owl’s range. Three fish owls appear to overlap in range, the brown (Ketupa zeylonensis) in at least northern Pakistan, probably Kashmir and discontinuously in southern Turkey, the tawny (K. flavipes) through much of eastern China and the Blakiston's fish owl in the Russian Far East, northeastern China and Hokkaido. Fish owls are distinctively different looking, possessing more scraggy ear tufts that hang to the side rather than sit erect on top of the head, generally have more uniform, brownish plumages without the contrasting darker streaking of an eagle-owl. The brown fish owl has no feathering on the tarsus or feet and the tawny has feathering only on the upper portion of the tarsi but the Blakiston’s is nearly as extensively feathered on the tarsi and feet as the eagle-owl. Tawny and brown fish owls are both slightly smaller than co-occurring Eurasian eagle-owls and Blakiston’s fish owls are similar or slightly larger than co-occurring large northern eagle-owls. Fish owls, being tied to the edges of freshwater where they hunt mainly fish and crabs, also have slightly differing, and more narrow, habitat preferences.[4][14]

text: In rare cases, other predators may kill a Eurasian eagle-owl. In Europe, there is one case of a white-tailed eagle killing an eagle-owl and there are at least four known incidents of eagle-owls being killed by golden eagles.[126] Also, an eagle-owl was found among the prey remains at a golden eagle eyrie in Mongolia.[146] An eagle-owl was also found amongst the prey in the nest of steppe eagles (Aquila nipalensis) in Altai Krai, Russia.[147] In 2016, a large female subadult Bonelli's eagle (Aquila fasciata) apparently preyed upon a three-year-old male Eurasian eagle-owl in Spain.[148] Pine martens (Martes martes) and stone martens (Martes foina) are opportunistic nest predators. Although martens could probably reach most eagle-owl nests due to their agility and climbing abilities, they probably will attack nests when disturbance or low food supply result in lower nest attendance by the parent owls. Cases where nests have atypically been accessible on foot (for both humans and wild predators) have resulted in Eurasian eagle-owl nests being predated. Eurasian badgers, wild boars and raccoon dogs and raccoons, the latter two both where non-native in Germany, have also reportedly preyed on nests that they can access. In coastal areas of Spain, red foxes were reported to have preyed on four eagle-owls, including one unsexed brooding adult, at nests found to be reachable on foot by researchers. Cases of red foxes killing Eurasian eagle-owls at nests have reported elsewhere albeit very rarely, normally the eagle-owl is a greater danger to the foxes (and many of its other nest predators) than vice versa.[149][150] In May 2017, a red fox was filmed killing two chicks and raiding the larder of an eagle-owl in Denmark.[151]

text: Larger and more dangerous mammalian prey is not infrequently tackled by Eurasian eagle-owl. Nearly thirty species of mammalian carnivores have been reported in their diet.[2] Many of these are mustelids, which are the smallest type of carnivore but can defend themselves viciously, even the tiny 67g (2.4oz) least weasel (Mustela nivalis).[79] Nonetheless, unlike some smaller birds of prey, the Eurasian eagle-owl seems to have no problem subduing various weasels and even martens, some of the latter can nearly equal to their own weight, and will kill the young of much larger species such as European otter (Lutra lutra) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles).[80][81][82] However, the single most widely reported carnivore is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), as they've been recorded in the diet from Denmark and Spain to the Russian Far East.[20][72][83] Many fox specimens taken by eagle-owls are young individuals or subadults. Some studies posited that the average fox taken as weighing about 2,500 to 3,000g (5.5 to 6.6lb), about equal to the eagle-owl's own weight, but another noted fox specimens killed that were estimated to weigh 8,000g (18lb), much larger than the eagle-owls.[20][57][58][66] At least four other species of foxes have been verified as prey in the Middle East and Asia.[2][51][84][85] Raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), averaging 6,500g (14.3lb), have been preyed on in Asia as well.[86] Other relatively large carnivores have been hunted as well, including invasive Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in Spain and masked palm civets (Paguma larvata) in China, both being roughly cat-sized at averages of 2,300 and 4,300g (5.1 and 9.5lb), respectively.[2][25][87] Domestic carnivores including cats (Felis silvestris catus) of all sizes and small dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) or puppies may on occasion become prey for Eurasian eagle-owls. Cats killed have been estimated to weigh from 3,200 to 7,500g (7.1 to 16.5lb).[20][37][66][87] The dogs killed by Bavarian eagle-owls were estimated to average 4,000g (8.8lb).[66] Non-native carnivores such as American mink (Neovison vison) and raccoon (Procyon lotor) have also been preyed on by eagle-owls, which is presumed to incidentally benefit the prey taken in considerably numbers by these rarely checked invasive fur-bearers.[88][89]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle-owl that resides in much of Eurasia. It is also called the European eagle-owl and in Europe, it is occasionally abbreviated to just eagle-owl.[3] It is one of the largest species of owl, and females can grow to a total length of 75cm (30in), with a wingspan of 188cm (6ft 2in), males being slightly smaller.[4] This bird has distinctive ear tufts, with upper parts that are mottled with darker blackish colouring and tawny. The wings and tail are barred. The underparts are a variably hued buff, streaked with darker colour. The facial disc is poorly developed and the orange eyes are distinctive.

text: The diet is generally more diverse than any other co-existing owl but often focuses predominantly on a particular range of prey species, with two to four species often making up the majority of the diet.[15] Studies conducted over the course of years has shown that the regional diet often changes dramatically from year to year. This is partially driven by the cyclical population trends of much of their prey as well as by habitat changes, which are often due to human activities.[2][15] The primary prey species varies by region but is comprised mainly by small mammals such as voles, rats, mice, rabbits and hares.[3] In Europe, the five main prey species are, in order of extent of reporting and numeric abundance in dietary studies: the brown rat (Rattus norvegius), which has now occupied edge habitats (although generally associated with man) in almost every part of Europe excluding the colder north; the common vole (Microtus arvalis), often the most abundant native, small mammal in wild portions of Europe;[16] the European hedgehog (Erinaceus concolor), which occupies wooded edges across western Europe alongside the eagle-owls; the European water vole (Arvicola amphibius), a unique, large vole occupying the wetland edges often hunted by eagle-owls; and the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), which has a very close relationship with the eagle-owls found throughout the Iberian Peninsula and the massifs of France.[2][17][18] As the distribution of the Eurasian eagle-owls moves west (and south), the primarily prey species gradually change but often continues to be dominated in number by small rodents and in biomass by slightly larger mammals such as hedgehogs and hares and rabbits.[2][18]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: The great size, bulky, barrel-shaped build, erect ear tufts and orange eyes render this as a distinctive species. Other than general morphology, the above features differ markedly from those of two of the next largest subarctic owl species in Europe and western Asia, which are the great grey owl and the greyish to chocolate-brown Ural owl (Strix uralensis), both of which have no ear tufts and have a distinctly rounded head, rather than the blocky shape of the eagle-owl’s head.[4][14] The snowy owl is obviously distinctive from most eagle-owls, but during winter the palest Eurasian eagle-owl race (B. b. sibiricus) can appear off-white. Nevertheless, the latter is still distinctively an ear-tufted Eurasian eagle-owl and lacks the pure white background colour and variable black spotting of the slightly smaller species (which has relatively tiny, vestigial ear tufts that have only been observed to have flared on rare occasions).[5][14] The long-eared owl has a somewhat similar plumage to the eagle-owl but is considerably smaller (an average female eagle-owl may be twice as long and ten times heavier than an average long-eared owl).[28]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: In Spain, long-term governmental protection of the Eurasian eagle-owl seems to have no positive effect on reducing the persecution of eagle-owls. Therefore, Spanish conservationists have recommended to boost education and stewardship programs in order to protect eagle-owls from direct killing by local residents.[98]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: The fourth and most famous derivation of the evolutionary line that includes the Eurasian eagle-owl is the great horned owl, which appears to have been the result of primitive eagle-owls spreading into North America.[6] It has been stated that the great horned owls and Eurasian eagle-owls are barely distinct as species, with a similar level of divergence in their plumages as the Eurasian and North American representations of the great grey owl or the long-eared owl.[6] There are more outward physical differences between the great horned owl and the Eurasian eagle-owl than in those two examples, including a great size difference favoring the Eurasian species, the great horned owl’s horizontal rather than vertical underside barring, yellow rather than orange eyes and a much strong black bracket to the facial disc, not to mention a number of differences in their reproductive behaviour and distinctive voices.[14] Furthermore, genetic research has revealed that the snowy owl is more closely related to the great horned owl than are Eurasian eagle-owls.[14] The most closely related species beyond the Pharaoh, Indian and Cape eagle-owls to the Eurasian eagle-owl is the smaller, less powerful and African spotted eagle-owl (B. africanus), which was likely to have divided from the line before they radiated away from Africa. Somehow, genetic materials indicate the spotted eagle-owl appears to share a more recent ancestor with the Indian eagle-owl than with the Eurasian eagle-owl or even the sympatric Cape eagle-owl.[14] Eurasian eagle-owls in captivity have produced apparently healthy hybrids with both the Indian eagle-owl and the great horned owl.[4][6] The Pharaoh, Indian and Cape eagle-owls and the great horned owl are all broadly similar in size to each other, but all are considerably smaller than the Eurasian eagle-owl, which averages at least 15–30% larger in linear dimensions and 30–50% larger in body mass than these other related species, possibly as the eagle-owls adapted to warmer climates and smaller prey. Fossils from south France have indicated that during the Middle Pleistocene, Eurasian eagle-owls (this paleosubspecies given the name B. b. davidi) were larger than they are today, even larger were those found in Azerbaijan and in Caucasus (either B. b. bignadensis or B. bignadensis), which were deemed to date to the Late Pleistocene.[6] About a dozen subspecies are recognized today.[2]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: Although found in the largest numbers in areas sparsely populated by humans, farmland is sometimes inhabited and they even have been observed living in park-like settings within European cities.[14] Since 2005, at least five pairs have nested in Helsinki.[62] This is due in part to feral European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) having recently populated the Helsinki area, originally from pet rabbits released to the wild. The number is expected to increase due to the growth of the European rabbit population in Helsinki. European hares (Lepus europaeus), the often preferred prey species by biomass of the eagle-owls in their natural habitat, live only in rural areas of Finland, not in the city centre. In June 2007, an eagle-owl nicknamed 'Bubi' landed in the crowded Helsinki Olympic Stadium during the European Football Championship qualification match between Finland and Belgium. The match was interrupted for six minutes.[63] After tiring of the match, following Jonathan Johansson's opening goal for Finland, the bird left the scene.[63] Finland's national football team have had the nickname Huuhkajat (Finnish for "Eurasian eagle-owls") ever since. The owl was named "Helsinki Citizen of the Year" in December 2007.[64]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: The Eurasian eagle-owl is a member of the genus Bubo, which may include either 22 or 25 extant species. Almost all the larger owl species in the world today are included in Bubo. Based on an extensive fossil record and a central distribution of extant species on that continent, the Bubo appears to have evolved into existence in Africa, although early radiations seem to branch from southern Asia as well.[6] Two genera belonging to the scops owls complex, the giant scops owls (Otus gurneyi) found in Asia and the Ptilopsis or the white-faced scops owl found in Africa, although firmly ensconced in the scops owl group, appear to share some characteristics with the eagle-owls.[4][7] The Strix is also related to the Bubo and is considered a "sister complex", with the Pulsatrix possibly being intermediate between the two.[14] The Eurasian eagle-owl appears to represent an expansion of the genus Bubo into the Eurasian continent. A few of the other species of Bubo seem to have been derived from the Eurasian eagle-owl, making it a "paraspecies", or they at least share a relatively recent common ancestor.[6] The Pharaoh eagle-owl, distributed in the Arabian Peninsula and sections of the Sahara Desert through North Africa where rocky outcrops are found, was until recently considered a subspecies of the Eurasian eagle-owl. It appears that the Pharaoh eagle-owl differs about 3.8% in mitochondrial DNA from the Eurasian eagle-owl, well past the minimum genetic difference to differentiate species of 1.5%.[14] Smaller and paler than Eurasian eagle-owls, the Pharaoh can also be considered a distinct species largely due to its higher pitched and more descending call and the observation that Eurasian eagle-owls formerly found in Morocco (B. b. hispanus) apparently did not breed with the co-existing Pharaoh eagle-owls.[6][7][14] On the contrary, the race still found together with the Pharaoh eagle-owl in the wild (B. b. interpositus) in the central Middle East has been found to interbreed in the wild with the Pharaoh eagle-owl, although genetical materials have indicated interpositus may itself be a distinct species from the Eurasian eagle-owl, as it differs from the nominate subspecies of the Eurasian eagle-owl by 2.8% in mitochondrial DNA.[4][14] The Indian eagle-owl was also considered a subspecies of Eurasian eagle-owl until recently, but its smaller size, distinct voice (more clipped and high-pitched than Eurasians), and the fact that it is largely allopatric in distribution (filling out the Indian subcontinent) with other Eurasian eagle-owl races has led to it being considered a distinct species.[30] The mitochondrial DNA of the Indian species also appears considerably distinct from the Eurasian species.[14] The Cape eagle-owl (B. capensis) appears to represent a return of this genetic line back into the African continent, where it leads a lifestyle similar to northern eagle-owls albeit far to the south.[6] Another offshoot of the northern Bubo group is the snowy owl. It appears to have separated from other Bubo at least 4 million years ago.[14][31]

title: Eurasian eagle-owl

text: In the lower Himalayas of northern Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir, along with the brown fish owl, the Eurasian eagle-owl at the limit of its distribution may co-exist with at least two to three other eagle-owls.[6] One of these, the dusky eagle-owl (B. coromandus) is smaller, with more uniform tan-brownish plumage, untidy uniform light streaking rather than the Eurasian’s dark streaking below and an even less well-defined facial disc. The dusky is usually found in slightly more enclosed woodland areas than Eurasian eagle-owls.[4][14] Another is possibly the spot-bellied eagle-owl (Bubo nipalensis), which is strikingly different looking, with stark brown plumage, rather than the warm hues typical of the Eurasian, bold spotting on a whitish background on the belly, and somewhat askew ear tufts that are bold white with light brown crossbars on the front. It is possible that both species occur in some parts of the Himalayan foothills but they are not currently verified to occur in the same area, in part because of the spot-bellied’s preference for dense, primary forest.[14] Most similar, with basically the same habitat preferences and the only one verified to co-occur with the Eurasian eagle-owls of the race B. b. turcomanus in Kashmir is the Indian eagle-owl (B. bengalensis).[4] The Indian species is smaller with a bolder blackish facial disc border, more rounded and relatively smaller wings and partially unfeathered toes. Far to the west, the pharaoh eagle-owl (B. ascalaphus) also seemingly overlaps in range with the Eurasian, in at least the country of Jordan. Although also relatively similar to the Eurasian eagle-owl, the pharaoh is distinguished by its smaller size, paler, more washed-out plumage and the diminished size of its ear-tufts.[4][14]