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Eurasian eagle-owl

The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a species of eagle-owl, a type of bird that resides in much of Eurasia. It is also called the Uhu and it is occasionally abbreviated to just the eagle-owl in Europe.[4]

It is one of the largest species of owl. Females can grow to a total length of 75 cm (30 in), with a wingspan of 188 cm (6 ft 2 in). Males are slightly smaller.[5] 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 colouring. The facial disc is not very defined. The orange eyes are distinctive.[6] At least 12 subspecies of the Eurasian eagle-owl are described.[7]


Eurasian eagle-owls are found in many habitats; mostly mountainous and rocky areas, often near varied woodland edge and near shrubby areas with openings or wetlands. They also inhabit coniferous forests, steppes, and remote areas. Occasionally, they are found in farmland and in park-like settings in European cities and, very rarely, in busier urban areas.[6][8]


The eagle-owl is mostly a nocturnal predator. Predominantly, they hunt small mammals, such as rodents and rabbits, but also birds and larger mammals. Secondary prey include reptiles, amphibians, fish, large insects, and invertebrates.[5][6][8][9]


The species typically breeds on cliff ledges, in gullies, among rocks, and in other concealed locations. The nest is a scrape containing a clutch of 2–4 eggs typically, which are laid at intervals and hatch at different times.[6][8][10] The female incubates the eggs and broods the young. The male brings food for her and for the nestlings. Continuing parental care for the young is provided by both adults for about five months.[8]


In addition to being one of the largest living species of owl, the Eurasian eagle-owl is also one of the most widely distributed.[10] With a total range in Europe and Asia of about 51.4 million km2 (19.8 million sq mi) and a total population estimated to be between 100,000 and 500,000 individuals, the IUCN lists the bird's conservation status as being of least concern, although the trend is listed as decreasing.[11] The vast majority of eagle-owls live in Continental Europe, Scandinavia, Russia (which is almost certainly where the peak numbers and diversity of race occurs), and Central Asia.[1] Additional minor populations exist in Anatolia, the northern Middle East, the montane upper part of South Asia, China, Korea and in Japan; in addition, an estimated 12 to 40 pairs are thought to reside in the United Kingdom as of 2016 (where they are arguably non-native), a number which may be on the rise,[1][12] and have successfully bred in the UK since at least 1996.[13] Tame eagle-owls have occasionally been used in pest control because of their size to deter large birds such as gulls from nesting.[14]

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B. b. hispanus (Rothschild and Hartert, 1910) – Also known as the Spanish eagle-owl or the Iberian eagle-owl. This subspecies mainly occurs on the Iberian Peninsula, where it occupies a majority of Spain and scattered spots in Portugal.[47][48] B. b. hispanus also inhabited, at least historically, wooded areas of the Atlas Mountains in Northern Africa, making it the only subspecies of Eurasian eagle-owl known to breed in Africa, but this population is thought to be extinct.[1][19] In terms of its life history, this may be the most extensively studied subspecies of eagle-owl.[49] The Spanish eagle-owl is the most similar in plumage to the nominate subspecies amongst other subspecies, but tends to be a somewhat lighter, more greyish colour, with generally lighter streaking and a paler belly. In males, wing chord length can range from 40 to 45 cm (16 to 18 in) and in females from 445 to 485 mm (17.5 to 19.1 in). Wingspans in this subspecies can vary from 131 to 168 cm (4 ft 4 in to 5 ft 6 in), averaging about 154.1 cm (5 ft 1 in). Among standard measurements of B. b. hispanus, the tail is 23 to 31 cm (9.1 to 12.2 in), the total bill length is 38.9 to 54.3 mm (1.53 to 2.14 in) and the tarsus is 64.5 to 81 mm (2.54 to 3.19 in). Adult male B. b. hispanus from Spain weigh 1.22 to 1.9 kg (2.7 to 4.2 lb), averaging 1.63 kg (3.6 lb), while females weigh from 1.75 to 2.49 kg (3.9 to 5.5 lb), averaging 2.11 kg (4.7 lb).[47]

[46]

B. b. bubo (Linnaeus, 1758) – Also known as the European eagle-owl, the nominate subspecies inhabits continental Europe from near the Arctic Circle in Norway, Sweden, Finland, the southern Kola Peninsula, and Arkhangelsk where it ranges north to about latitude 64° 30' N., southward to the Baltic Sea, central Germany, to southeastern Belgium, eastern, central, and southern France to Northern Spain and parts of Italy including Sicily, and through Central and Southeastern Europe to Greece. It intergrades with B. b. ruthenus in northern Russia around the basin of the upper Mezen River and in the eastern vicinity of Gorki Leninskiye, Tambov and Voronezh, and intergrades with B. b. interpositus in northern Ukraine.[47][51][48] This is a medium-sized race, measuring in wing chord length 435–480 mm (17.1–18.9 in) in males and 455–500 mm (17.9–19.7 in).[7][48] In captive owls of this subspecies, the mean wingspan were 157 cm (5 ft 2 in) for males and 167.5 cm (5 ft 6 in) for females.[52] The total bill length is 45 to 56 mm (1.8 to 2.2 in).[19] Adult male European eagle-owls from Norway weigh 1.63 to 2.81 kg (3.6 to 6.2 lb), averaging 2.38 kg (5.2 lb), while females there weigh from 2.28 to 4.2 kg (5.0 to 9.3 lb), averaging 2.95 kg (6.5 lb).[25] Unsurprisingly, adult owls from western Finland were about the same size, averaging 2.65 kg (5.8 lb).[53] Another set of Finnish eagle-owls averaged somewhat larger still, with males averaging 2.64 kg (5.8 lb) and females averaging 3.16 kg (7.0 lb).[15][54] The subspecies seems to follow Bergmann’s rule in regards to body size decreasing closer to the Equator, as specimens from central Europe average 2.14 or 2.3 kg (4.7 or 5.1 lb) in body mass and those from Italy average about 2.01 kg (4.4 lb).[55] The weight range for eagle-owls in Italy is 1.5 to 3 kg (3.3 to 6.6 lb).[56] The nominate subspecies is perhaps the darkest of eagle-owl subspecies. Many nominate birds are heavily overlaid with broad black streaking over the upper-parts, head and chest. While generally a brownish base-colour, many nominate owls can appear rich rufous, especially about the head, upper-back and wing primaries. The lower belly is usually a buff brown, as opposed to whitish or yellowish in several other subspecies.[47] Birds seen from Italy may show a tendency to be smaller than more northern birds and are reportedly duller, possessing paler ground coloration, and more narrow streaks.[47][48] In Scandinavia, some birds are so darkly plumaged as to give a blackish-brown impression with almost no paler colour showing.[10]

[50]

B. b. ruthenus (Buturlin and Zhitkov, 1906) – May be also known as the eastern eagle-owl. This subspecies replaces the nominate in eastern Russia from about latitude 660 N. in the Timan-Pechora Basin south to the western Ural Mountains and the upper Don and lower Volga Rivers.[47][51][48] This is a fairly large subspecies going on wing chord length, which is 430–468 mm (16.9–18.4 in) in males and 470–515 mm (18.5–20.3 in) in females.[7][48] The subspecies is intermediate in coloration between the nominate subspecies and B. b. sibiricus. B. b. ruthenus may be confused with B. b. interpositus, even by authoritative ornithologists. B. b. interpositus is darker than B. b. ruthenus, distinctly more yellowish, less gray, and its brown pattern is darker, heavier, and more regular. The entire colour pattern of B. b. interpositus is brighter, richer, and more contrasting than that of B. b. ruthenus, but B. b. interpositus, though very well characterized, is an intermediate subspecies.[47][51]

[57]

B. b. interpositus (Rothschild and Hartert, 1910) – May be also known as Aharoni’s eagle-owl or the Byzantine eagle-owl.[59] B. b. interpositus ranges from southern Russia, south of the nominate, with which it intergrades in northern Ukraine, from Bessarabia and the steppes of the Ukraine north to Kyiv and Kharkiv then eastward to the Crimea, the Caucasus and Transcaucasia to northwestern and northern Iran (Elburz, region of Tehran, and probably the southern Caspian districts), and through Asia Minor south to Syria and Iraq but not to the Syrian desert where it is replaced by the pharaoh eagle-owl. The latter and B. b. interpositus reportedly hybridize from western Syria south to southern Palestine.[47][48] B. b. interpositus may be a distinct species from the Eurasian eagle-owl based on genetic studies.[7][19] This medium-sized subspecies is about the same size as the nominate subspecies B. b. bubo, with male wing chord lengths 425 to 475 mm (16.7 to 18.7 in) and female lengths of 440 to 503 mm (17.3 to 19.8 in).[7][48] It differs from the nominate subspecies by being paler and more yellow, less ferruginous, and by having a sharper brown pattern; from B. b. turcomanus by being very much darker and less yellow, and also by being much more sharply and heavily patterned with brown. Aharoni’s eagle-owl is darker and more rusty than B. b. ruthenus.[47][51]

[58]

B. b. sibiricus (Gloger, 1833) – Also known as the western Siberian eagle-owl. This subspecies is distributed from the Ural Mountains of western Siberia and Bashkiria to the mid Ob River and the western Altai Mountains, north to limits of the taiga, the most northerly distribution known in the species overall.[47] B. b. sibiricus is a large subspecies, wherein the males measure 435–480 mm (17.1–18.9 in) in wing chord length, while the females are 472–515 mm (18.6–20.3 in).[8][7][48] Captive males were found to measure 155 to 170 cm (5 ft 1 in to 5 ft 7 in) in wingspan and weigh 1.62 to 3.2 kg (3.6 to 7.1 lb); whereas the females measure 165 to 190 cm (5 ft 5 in to 6 ft 3 in) in wingspan and weigh 2.28 to 4.5 kg (5.0 to 9.9 lb).[52] Males were cited with a mean body mass of approximately 2.5 kg (5.5 lb).[61] This subspecies is physically the most distinctive of all the Eurasian eagle-owls, and is sometimes considered the most "beautiful and striking".[47] It is the most pale of the eagle-owl subspecies; the general coloration is a buffy off-white overlaid with dark markings. The crown, hindneck and underparts are streaked blackish but somewhat sparingly, with the lower breast and belly indistinctly barred, the primary coverts dark, contrasting with rest of the wing. The head, back and shoulders are only somewhat dark unlike in most other subspecies. In the eastern limits of its range, B. b. sibiricus may intergrade with B. b. yenisseensis.[19][47]

[60]

B. b. yenisseensis (Buturlin, 1911) – Also known as the eastern Siberian eagle-owl. This subspecies is found in central Siberia from about the Ob eastward to Lake Baikal, north to about latitudes 580 to 590 N on the Yenisei River, south to the Altai, Tarbagatai and the Saur Mountain ranges and in Tannu Tuva and Khangai Mountains in northwestern Mongolia, grading into B. b. sibiricus near Tomsk in the west and into B. b. ussuriensis in the east of northern Mongolia. The zone of intergradations with the latter in Mongolia seems to be quite extensive, with intermediate eagle-owls being especially prevalent around the Tuul River Valley, resulting in owls intermediate in coloration between B. b. yenisseensis and B. b. ussuriensis.[47][51] B. b. yenisseensis is a large subspecies, with wing chord lengths of 435–470 mm (17.1–18.5 in) in males and 473–518 mm (18.6–20.4 in) in females.[7][48] B. b. yenisseensis is typically much darker with more yellowish ground colour than B. b. sibiricus. It does have a similar amount of dazzling white on its underwing as does sibiricus.[5] It is buffy-greyish overall with well-expressed dark patterning on the upper-parts and around the head. The underside is overall pale greyish with black streaking.[47]

[62]

B. b. jakutensis (Buturlin, 1908) – May be also known as the Yakutian eagle-owl. This subspecies inhabits northeastern Siberia, from southern north to about latitude 640 N., west in the basin of the Vilyuy River to the upper Nizhnyaya Tunguska River, and east to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk from Magadan south to the Khabarovsk Krai. It has been reported farther north, from the regions of the upper Kolyma River and the upper Anadyr. Eurasian eagle-owls are absent in Kamchatka and north of the Verkhoyansk Range.[47] This is a large subspecies, rivaling the proceeding two subspecies as the largest of all eagle-owls, going on wing chord length, which subspecies is largest is unclear considering the extensive size overlap in wing size. The wing chord is 455 to 490 mm (17.9 to 19.3 in) in males and 480 to 503 mm (18.9 to 19.8 in) in females.[7][19][48] B. b. jakutensis is much darker and browner above than both B. b. sibiricus and B. b. yenisseensis, though its coloration is more diffused, less sharp than the latter. It is more distinctly streaked and barred below than B. b. sibiricus while being whiter and more heavily vermiculated below than B. b. yenisseensis.[47][51] This subspecies evidences an almost disheveled, wild appearance suggesting more than other races the fish owl group. B. b. jakutensis has more muted brown and conspicuously elongated feathers, somewhat looser hanging ear tufts and a bulky, large-headed and almost neckless look even for an eagle-owl.[63][64]

Yakutia

B. b. ussuriensis (Poljakov, 1915) – Would presumably be also known as the Ussuri eagle-owl. This subspecies ranges from southeastern Siberia, to the south of the range of B. b. jakutensis, southward through eastern , Amurland, Sakhalin, Ussuriland and the Manchurian portion of the Chinese provinces of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Hebei.[47][51] This subspecies is also reportedly found in the southern Kuril Islands ranging down to as far as northern Hokkaido, the only Japanese representation in the Eurasian eagle-owl species, although this is apparently not a stable, viable population.[65] Going on wing chord length, B. b. ussuriensis is slightly smaller than the various subspecies from further north in Siberia. Males have a wing chord length of 430–475 mm (16.9–18.7 in) and females are 460–502 mm (18.1–19.8 in).[7][47][48] This subspecies differs from B. b. jakutensis by being much darker throughout. It is also darker than B. b. yenisseensis. The brown markings on the upper parts of B. b. ussuriensis are much more extensive and diffused than in B. b. jakutensis or B. b. yenisseensis, with the result that the white markings are much less conspicuous in B. b. ussuriensis than in the other two subspecies. The under parts are also more buffy, much less white, and more heavily streaked and vermiculated in B. b. ussuriensis than in the two more northerly, larger subspecies.[47] It overlaps considerably with jakutensis and some birds are of an intermediate appearance.[65]

Transbaikal

B. b. turcomanus (Eversmann, 1835) – Also known as the steppe eagle-owl. It is distributed from Kazakhstan between the Volga and upper Ural Rivers, the Caspian Sea coast and the former Aral Sea, but replaced in that country by B. b. omissus in the mountainous south and in the coastal region of the Mangyshlak Peninsula by B. b. gladkovi. Out of Kazakhstan, the range of B. b. turcomanus continues through the Transbaikal and the Tarim Basin to western Mongolia.[47][51] This subspecies appears to be variable in size, but is generally medium-sized. Males can range in wing chord length from 418–468 mm (16.5–18.4 in) and females from 440 to 512 mm (17.3 to 20.2 in).[7][48] In standard measurements, the tail is 260–310 mm (10–12 in), the tarsus is 77–81 mm (3.0–3.2 in) and the bill is 45–47 mm (1.8–1.9 in).[7] This subspecies can reportedly weigh from 1.5 to 3.8 kg (3.3 to 8.4 lb).[67] The plumage background colour is pale, yellowish-buff. The dark patterns on the upper- and underparts is paler, less well-defined and more shattered than in B. b. interpositus. Dark longitudinal patterning on the under-parts discontinue above the belly. B. b. turcomanus is greyer than B. b. hemalachanus but is otherwise somewhat similar-looking. This subspecies is unique in that it seems to shun mountainous and obvious rocky habitats in favor of low hills, plateaus, lowlands, steppes, and semideserts at or near sea-level.[47]

[66]

Distribution[edit]

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the most widely distributed of all owl species, although it is far less wide-ranging than the barn owl, the short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) and long-eared owl and lacks the circumpolar range of boreal species such as great grey owl, boreal owl and northern hawk owl (Surnia ulula).[5][7] This eagle-owl reaches its westernmost range in the Iberian Peninsula, both almost throughout Spain and more spottily in Portugal. From there, the Eurasian eagle-owl ranges widely in the south of France from Toulouse to Monaco and as far north into the central part of the country as in Allier. Farther north, they are found sporadically and discontinuously in Luxembourg, southern and western Belgium and scarcely into the Netherlands. It is infrequently found in southern and central United Kingdom. In Germany, the eagle-owl can be found in large but highly discontinuous areas, mostly in the south and central areas but is almost entirely absent in areas such as Brandenburg. Across from its south German range, this species range is nearly continuous into the Czech Republic, Slovakia, northern and eastern Hungary and very spottily into Poland. In the fairly montane countries of Switzerland and Austria, the eagle-owl can be found fairly broadly. In Italy, the Eurasian eagle-owl is found where the habitat is favorable in much of the northern, western and central portions down to as far south Melito di Porto Salvo. From Italy, this species sweeps quite broadly along the Mediterranean coast in Southeastern Europe from Slovenia mostly continuously to most of Greece and Bulgaria. In eastern Europe, the Eurasian eagle-owl is found essentially throughout from central Romania to Estonia. The species also occupies a majority of Finland and Scandinavia, where most broadly found in Norway, somewhat more spottily in Sweden and in Denmark it is found widely in Jutland (absent from the islands).[33][86][87][88]


The Eurasian eagle-owl's range in Russia is truly massive, with the species apparently nearly unbound by habitat, with their distribution only excluding them from the true Arctic zone, i.e. their range stops around the tree line. If not the most densely populated species, they almost certainly stand as Russia's most widely distributed owl species. From Russia, they are found throughout Central Asia, residing continuously in each nation from Kazakhstan down to Afghanistan.[89][90][91] In Asia Minor, they are found broadly in Georgia, Azerbaijan and somewhat so in western and southern Turkey but is quite sporadic in distribution overall in Turkey.[92][93] A spotty range also exists in the Middle East in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and western Iran, the species being found broadly only in north and western Iran.[94][95] In South Asia, the Eurasian eagle-owl is found mostly often in northern Pakistan, northern Nepal and Bhutan and more marginally into far northern India.[96] This species resides throughout Mongolia, almost the entirety of China (mainly absent only from southern Yunnan and southern Guangxi). From China and eastern Russia, the Eurasian eagle-owl is found throughout Korea, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and rarely into Japan in northern Hokkaido. Besides the Kurils, the farthest eastern part of the range for this species is in Magadan in the Russian Far East.[89][97]

Eurasian eagle-owl in Great Britain

a Eurasian eagle-owl which escaped from the Central Park Zoo in New York City in 2023

Flaco

Eurasian eagle owl and other owl pictures

Description, photos and calls

Eurasian eagle-owl

at Observation.org

Eurasian eagle-owl

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