An elusive ghost: Searching for the Eagle Owl (<scp><i>Bubo bubo</i></scp>) in the past of Britain
Journal: International Journal of Osteoarchaeology
Year: 2022

Abstract The Eagle Owl ( Bubo bubo ) is currently absent as a regular breeder in Britain and its status as a native species has been debated. Its occurrence in the Pleistocene of Britain is sparse but uncontroversial, whereas its Holocene presence rests on very few ambiguous findings. Of these, a specimen from Demen's Dale (Derbyshire) originally attributed to the Mesolithic period is the most important. A re‐evaluation of this bone (tarsometatarsus) is presented in this paper. Although its iden