Eurasian eagle-owl
Bubo bubo
Eurasia’s largest owl, with long ear tufts and orange eyes. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident and breeder on the 2024 national bird checklist.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Mammals and birds
Status in Georgia
Year-round resident
Size
58–71 cm
Habitat
Cliffs and forest edge
Family
Strigidae
Conservation
LC
Human interaction: It is not venomous. It has large talons; do not approach or handle it. It may strike near a nest. Wild birds must not be taken.
Overview
What is Eurasian eagle-owl
The Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo) is a large owl (family Strigidae) confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia codes it YR-R: a breeder present throughout the year. Seasonality is classed as high-quality (code A). Occurrence quality is high (H), with photographs. The Georgian name is ზარნაშო; ჩვეულებრივი ზარნაშო is also used. Little owl (Athene noctua) is a different species, not a synonym of this name. Adults are often about 58–71 cm long at species level, with long ear tufts and orange or golden-yellow eyes. It is not a threat to people. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The 2024 checklist assigns the same category nationally.
Last updated
Gallery
Eurasian eagle-owl in photos
Photo: Marton Berntsen
Lista, Norway ·
Photo: Imran Shah
Jutial, Gilgit ·
Photo: Imran Shah
Bali, Gojal, Gilgit-Baltistan ·
Photo: Scarabinol
Montseny, Catalonia ·
Identification
How to identify Eurasian eagle-owl
Eurasia’s largest owl, with long ear tufts and orange eyes. Confirmed in Georgia as a year-round resident on the 2024 checklist. The usual confusion is long-eared owl, which is much smaller and slimmer.
- 01
Length at species level is often about 58–71 cm, mass often about 1.55–4.2 kg; females are typically heavier than males (Owl Pages). Wingspan in species-level accounts is often about 1.5–1.8 m (Peregrine Fund). The head is large; the ear tufts are long and obvious. The eyes are orange or golden-yellow, not dark. The bill is dark and hooked. The facial disc is tawny-brown with a dark “frame”. The chin and throat are often white. The body is stocky, the wings broad, the legs feathered.
- 02
The upperparts are black-brown and tawny, mottled and streaked. The breast has broad lengthways blotches; the belly has fine cross-barring. Colour varies geographically; field identification is to species, not subspecies. Juveniles are fluffier; ear tufts and eye colour are still diagnostic. The call is a deep oohu — not the tawny owl’s quavering hoot and not the scops owl’s single-note whistle.
- 03
Long-eared owl (Asio otus) is also a year-round resident on the 2024 Georgian checklist; it too has ear tufts and orange eyes, but is much smaller and slimmer. This atlas does not yet have a separate page. Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) is an open-country bird, often active by day, with short ear tufts; there is no separate page yet. Tawny owl (Strix aluco) is medium-sized, with no ear tufts and dark eyes; this atlas has a separate page. Little owl (Athene noctua) is small, with yellow eyes and no ear tufts; this atlas has a separate page. Eurasian scops owl (Otus scops) is small, tufted, and a breeding migrant in Georgia; this atlas has a separate page. Barn owl (Tyto alba) has a heart-shaped face and is pale; it is on the 2014 Red List and this atlas has a separate page. Tengmalm’s owl (Aegolius funereus) is a small forest owl with yellow eyes; this atlas has a separate page.
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It is not a threat to people. Do not handle it. A large owl with ear tufts and orange eyes in Georgia is this species, not little owl or tawny owl.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look on rocky ground, in ravines, at forest edge or near ruins — not evenly on treeless alpine plateaus or in the middle of closed dense forest. This page does not colour a municipality-by-municipality map. The 2024 checklist confirms country-level resident status but does not publish a regional gazetteer. NPLG treats it as a resident bird in Georgia and says it occurs throughout the country; that is an encyclopaedic wording, not a municipality list on this page. A Georgian barn-owl diet paper (Kitel and Bukhnikashvili 2025) mentions eagle-owl as occupying different niches from barn owl, including dry steppe, semi-desert and dense forest; that is a methods note, not a map of confirmed localities. Species-level habitat is rocky relief with woodland or scrub, also forest edge, ravines, ruins and open hunting ground near the nest. Nesting is often on a cliff ledge, in a crevice or at a cave entrance. A separate national elevation band for Georgia is not published here. The atlas map is left uncoloured until named Georgian localities are taken from sources that actually list them.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. Across the range the main prey is mammals — from voles and rats to hares and, rarely, larger animals — and birds, including other raptors and owls. Reptiles, amphibians and large invertebrates are also taken. It hunts mainly in open or semi-open ground, on the ground or in the air. Prey is often swallowed whole; indigestible parts are later coughed up as pellets. That is species-level diet, not a measured Georgian menu.
Behavior
It is mainly active at dusk and at night. By day it roosts in a rock crevice, in the canopy or in a cave; at dusk it may also sit on a prominent lookout. It is territorial and stays on site year-round; it is not a long-distance migrant. The male territorial call is a deep, even oohu; the female’s call is slightly higher. Pairs often duet. Nesting is on a cliff ledge, in a crevice or at a cave entrance; old nests of other large birds are sometimes used, rarely the ground. Almost no nest material is added. Species-level clutches are often one to four white eggs; the female incubates about 31–36 days while the male brings food. Young leave the nest after several weeks and hide on nearby ground. Those figures are from the wider range, not a Georgian nest sample on this page. The 2024 checklist treats the species as a breeding resident in Georgia. Do not handle it; birds may strike people near the nest.
Conservation
BirdLife International assesses Bubo bubo as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The 2024 Georgian checklist assigns LC globally and nationally. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Resolution No. 190); among owls that list includes barn owl (Tyto alba, EN D1). A Georgian population trend is not measured on this page. Documented pressures at species level include electrocution, collision with traffic and shooting; that is not a ranked national threat list for Georgia. It is listed on CITES Appendix II, so international trade is regulated. Do not catch wild birds.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Eurasian eagle-owl.
Yes. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia treats it as a confirmed year-round resident (YR-R): a breeder present all year. Evidence is photographs.
On rocky ground, in ravines, at forest edge or near ruins. This page has no municipality list and does not colour a regional map. Presence is confirmed at country level, not by region.
Large size, long ear tufts, orange eyes, mottled brown plumage, a deep oohu. Long-eared owl has the same marks but is much smaller. Tawny owl has no ear tufts and dark eyes.
About 58–71 cm long at species level; wingspan in the literature is often about 1.5–1.8 m. Females are usually heavier than males. There is no separate measured Georgian series on this page.
Mainly mammals and birds; also other vertebrates and large invertebrates. Diet in Georgia is not separately studied on this page.
All year, according to the 2024 checklist. It is not treated there as a passage migrant or winter-only visitor. It is easiest to detect at night by voice.
Yes. YR-R on the 2024 checklist means a breeding resident. The nest is usually a cliff ledge or crevice. Georgian clutch dates are not tabulated here.
It is not venomous. It has large talons and may strike near a nest; do not approach. It is Least Concern globally and nationally on the 2024 checklist. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Do not catch wild birds.
- Budagashvili & Javakhishvili 2024 — The birds of Georgia (Sandgrouse 46)
- SABUKO — Bird checklist
- BirdLife DataZone — Eurasian Eagle-owl
- IUCN Red List — Bubo bubo
- IOC World Bird List
- Avibase — Georgia bird checklist
- NPLG Wiki Dictionaries — ზარნაშო
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- Holt et al. — Birds of the World (Bubo bubo)
- The Owl Pages — Eurasian Eagle Owl
- The Peregrine Fund — Eurasian Eagle-owl
- Kitel & Bukhnikashvili 2025 — Barn Owl pellet analysis (Caucasiana)
- Gálvez, Gavashelishvili & Javakhishvili 2005 — Raptors and Owls of Georgia
- Wikimedia Commons — Hubro, Lista (Marton Berntsen, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Jutial (Imran Shah, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Bali, Gojal (Imran Shah, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Montseny (Scarabinol, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — territorial call, Marianka (Michal Noga, CC BY-SA 4.0)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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