Eurasian eagle-owl
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. 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. 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. 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"). 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.
Dietary biology of the Eurasian eagle-owl
Discreet habitat preferences may coincidentally spare many owls, as owls from the genera "Strix", "Glaucidium", "Aegolius" and the 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. Meanwhile, "Asio", "Otus", "Athene" and barn owls owls tend to hunt in more open habitats than the edges favored by eagle-owls. 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. 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. 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 of the other species. In these cliff nests, the only considerable predatory interaction was the eagle-owls appearing to predate the peregrine falcons. 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. 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.