Eurasian eagle-owl
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. It is one of the largest species of owl, and females can grow to a total length of 75 cm (30 in), with a wingspan of 188 cm (6 ft 2 in), males being slightly smaller. 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.
Dietary biology of the Eurasian eagle-owl
Wild birds found in their diet have ranged in size from the Eurasian wren ("Troglodytes troglodytes") to about 15 species weighing over . One of the largest wild adult bird verified as prey was the greylag goose ("Anser anser"). Other large species have been hunted, some may be cases of nest robbery rather than large adults but none are heavier than the largest mammalian prey that eagle-owls have taken including greater white-fronted goose ("Anser albifrons"), bar-headed goose ("Anser indicus"), great cormorant ("Phalacrocorax carbo"), Himalayan snowcock ("Tetraogallus himalayensis") and demoiselle crane ("Anthropoides virgo"), all averaging around , the swan goose ("Anser cygnoides"), the common crane ("Grus grus") and the (between the dimorphic sexes) great bustard ("Otis tarda"). Eurasian eagle-owls have also hunted adult male western capercaillie, which average about , although usually the much smaller females, at , are more regularly taken. Although they rarely take domestic birds, the range of sizes killed is just as dramatic, from loose budgerigars ("Melopsittacus undulatus"), weighing only , to domestic turkeys, which may easily weigh over .