The Eurasian Eagle-Owl is a very large species of owl native to much of Europe and across Asia. They are woodland birds, nesting on cliff ledges or open, shallow caves. They may also take over old nests from other birds of prey, or even nest on the ground when no other suitable site is available.
Eurasian Eagle-Owls are very large and powerful birds. It can be distinguished by its large ear tufts, and by its piercing orange eyes.
Eurasian Eagle-Owls feed on mammals, ranging in size from voles and mice to marmots and foxes. They hunt using silent flight and take prey by surprise.
The Eurasian Eagle-Owl is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List and was last assessed in 2012 by BirdLife International. This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is very large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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