We have 2 eagle owls on the farm. One is called Skip and he is a Spotted Eagle Owl. The other is called Pedro and he is a European Eagle Owl. Pedro is much larger than Skip. You can see how tame Skip is from the photo on the left.

Spotted Eagle-owl

The Spotted Eagle-owl (Bubo africanus) is a medium-sized species of owl, one of the smallest of the Eagle owls. Its height is forty-five cm (18 inch) and its weight is from 480 to 850g (1 to 1.8 pounds). It has a 33cm (13 in) wingspan. The facial disk is off white to pale ochre and the eyes are yellow. It has prominent ear tufts, and the upper body is dusky brown, the lower parts off-white with brown bars. Prior to 1999 the Spotted Eagle-owl was considered conspecific with the Vermiculated Eagle-owl, but now it is classed as a separate species. Its prey consists of small mammals, birds, insects and reptiles.

 

Spotted at the trey inhabit most of Africa south of the Sahara desert away from dense forests. They are diurnal hunters, spending the night concealed in trees, rock ledges or abandoned burrows. They are found in areas with rocky outcroppings, scrub land, open woods, and semi deserts. Spotted Eagle-owls do not avoid populated areas. They often hunt near roads and are often struck by vehicles. The major cause of death is pesticides used in agriculture for insect and rodent control.
Spotted Eagle-owls mate for life. They are able to breed at around one year of age. They make their nest on the ground and have been known to nest on window ledges of buildings. Breeding begins in July continuing to the first weeks of February. The female lays two to four eggs and does the incubation, leaving the nest only to eat what the male has brought food. The incubation period lasts approximately 32 days. The young owls can fly at around seven weeks of age. Five weeks later, the young owls leave the nest. They have a life span of up to ten years in the wild and up to twenty in captivity.

European Eagle Owls

The European Eagle Owl is a large and powerful bird, smaller than the Golden Eagle but larger than the Snowy Owl. It is sometimes titled the world's largest owl, but so is the Blakiston's Fish Owl, which is slightly bigger on average.[2][3]  The Eagle Owl has a wingspan of up to 138–200 cm (55–79 in) and measures 58–73 cm (23–29 in) long. Females weigh 1.75-4.2 kg (3.9-9.4 lbs) and males weigh 1.5-3.2 kg (3.3-7 lbs). In comparison, the common Barn Owl weighs about 500 grams (1.1 lbs). It mainly feeds on small mammals, but can kill prey up to the size of foxes and young deer (up to 10 kg/22 lb), if taken by surprise. Larger prey (over 3 kg/7 lb) is consumed on the ground which leaves the bird vulnerable (for example to foxes).



The call of the Eagle Owl is a deep resonant “ooh-hu” with emphasis on the first syllable for the male, and a more high-pitched uh-Hu for the female (in German and Hungarian, the name of this bird is "Uhu" and the Dutch name is “Oehoe”). Each member of an Eagle Owl population can be identified by means of its vocalizations.
The size, ear tufts and orange eyes make this a distinctive species. It has a strong direct flight. The ear tufts of males are more upright than those of females.
The Eagle Owl is largely nocturnal and is found in mountains and forests with cliffs and rocky areas, usually nesting on cliff ledges. They live for around 20 years although like many other bird species in captivity they can live much longer, perhaps up to 60 years.