Eurasian Eagle-Owl

The Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the largest owls, 56–75 cm long, with females reaching 75 cm and a wingspan of 188 cm. It has distinctive ear tufts, upperparts mottled with blackish and tawny, barred wings and tail, and underparts a variable buff streaked darker. The sexes are generally not distinguishable in the field. The iris is bright orange-red in some European birds and orange-yellow in desert-living subspecies (Wikipedia, general species account).

It is mostly a nocturnal predator, hunting mainly small mammals such as rodents and rabbits but also birds and larger mammals, with reptiles, amphibians, fish and large insects as secondary prey. It typically breeds on cliff ledges, in gullies, among rocks and in other concealed places, in a scrape holding two to four eggs that are laid at intervals and hatch at different times; the female incubates and broods while the male brings food. The cached account is largely about Europe (Wikipedia, general species account).