The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the largest owls in the world, and it is a relative of the Great Horned Owl. It forms a superspecies with the Great Horned Owl and the Rock, Pharaoh and Cape eagle-owls, but the borders between these species are not clear, and fourteen subspecies of the Eurasian eagle-owl are recognized.

Eurasian eagle-owls live in much of Europe and Asia. A zoo raptor group fact sheet says the estimated global range is over 10 million square kilometers, as of July 2017, citing the IUCN.

Eagle-owls live in many places, from conifer forests to warm deserts, and in Europe they can be found as high as about 6,500 feet. They prefer rocky places such as cliffs and ravines, and they prefer to hunt in open areas.

An eagle-owl's call is a deep, resonant hoot that can be heard from far away, and the female's call is higher in pitch than the male's. Eagle-owls can judge the size and distance of an intruding owl by how intense its call is.

Eagle-owls are largely solitary except when pairing up to breed, and they often pair up for life, but they prefer to stay in the same territory unless food shortages force them to leave.

Eagle-owls are elusive, which makes them difficult to study in their natural habitats. An eagle-owl coughs up an owl pellet: a small ball of hair, feathers and bones it could not digest. Owl pellets help scientists understand what these hard-to-find birds eat.

Scientists think habitat choice and nesting success in eagle-owls depend mainly on having enough of certain prey, such as European rabbits.

Eagle-owls do not build a nest. They use ledges, caves, and the old nests of other large birds. A pair has one to four eggs at a time, and the female sits on the eggs for a little over a month, up to about 36 days. Young eagle-owls hatch white and fluffy, and the male brings food to the nest. Chicks grow quickly: they feed themselves at three weeks and fly short distances by about 52 days. A zoo raptor group says eagle-owl young are independent at 150 to 160 days of age.

Words to know

• superspecies: related species group
• elusive: hard to find
• territory: an animal's area
• resonant: deep and full