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Physical Characteristics: At a height of up to 28 inches, Draco’s Eurasian eagle owl is comparable in size to Hedwig. Eurasian eagle owls have a haughty, imperial looking face, with yellow or orange eyes and prominent ear tufts. Their feathers are a muted brown color mottled with black bars and white spots, and their bills and claws are black.
Habitat and Range: Eurasian eagle owls prefer to nest in rocky ledges or on open ground in deserts or coniferous forests in North Africa, eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Diet: Eurasian eagle owls hunt at dusk and early evening. They mostly eat small mammals like voles and rats, but will also eat a variety of prey including beetles, deer fawns, foxes, cats, snakes, fish, crabs, and even other owls.
Life cycle: Eurasian eagle owls can live about 20 years in the wild and up to 60 years in captivity. Breeding occurs between February and July, depending on location. The female lays a clutch of 1-4 eggs at three-day intervals, and she incubates them until they hatch at 31-36 days. The male hunts for food for the female and the young. Fledglings leave the nest between 22 days and 7 weeks of age.
Threats: In several countries, including Russia and England, these owls were thought to be competition for farmers and hunters because they prey on large animals like deer. While it’s unlikely that eagle owls made any appreciable dent in livestock or wild game populations, they were used as a scapegoat for diminishing livestock or bad hunting seasons. Consequently, they were hunted to extinction in England and parts of the eastern Europe in the late 19th century. Today, they have few natural enemies, but they are still shot by people, and their biggest dangers are collisions with automobiles and power lines.
Sources: NatureServe Explorer; Owl Pages
