page_title: Dietary biology of the Eurasian eagle-owl
section_title: Other mammals
hierarchical_section_title: Dietary biology of the Eurasian eagle-owl / Prey types / Other mammals
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Europäischer Igel (Erinaceus europaeus), Chemnitz, Deutschland English: European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus), Chemnitz, Germany Čeština: Ježek západní (Erinaceus europaeus), Chemnitz, Německo
context_page_description: The Eurasian eagle-owl may well be the most powerful extant species of owl, able to attack and kill large prey far beyond the capacities of most other living owls. However, the species is even more marked for its ability to live on more diverse prey than possibly any other comparably sized raptorial bird, which, given its considerable size, is almost fully restricted to eagles. This species can adapt to surprisingly small prey where it is the only kind available and to large prey where it is abundant. Eurasian eagle-owls feed most commonly on small mammals weighing 100 g or more, although nearly 45% of the prey species recorded have an average adult body mass of less than 100 g. Usually 55-80% of the food of eagle-owls is mammalian.
context_section_description: Hedgehogs often comprise a fairly significant portion of the prey taken by Eurasian eagle-owls, both in numbers and biomass. At least eight species of hedgehog have been predated. The European hedgehog is often one of the most prominent prey species in eagle-owl diet studies from Europe, and was recorded as the most numerous prey species per researchers in parts of Denmark, Switzerland, Austria and south Germany. With an average weight of 500 to 1,000 g (1.1 to 2.2 lb), the European hedgehog can comprise a very large portion of the biomass. A study of the Bavarian region of Germany, the European hedgehog (the main prey species) made up 41.7% of the prey by number and 52.1% of the biomass, the maximum representation of hedgehogs known in Europe. Other members of the genus Erinaceus are also locally regularly taken, as is the 575 g (1.268 lb) Daurian hedgehog (Mesechinus dauuricus) in Mongolia. Studies from Greece and the Czech Republic found that the northern white-breasted hedgehog (Erinaceus roumanicus) was the leading prey species. Unidentified Erinaceus hedgehogs almost totally dominated the diet of eagle-owls in Stavropol, Russia, making up 70.9% of the food, only the European rabbit has been found as more significant at the genera level by number in a given dietary study. Studies from both Syria and Kazakhstan showed that the 365 g (12.9 oz) long-eared hedgehog (Hemiechinus auritus) was the most significant prey, making up 25.3% and 33.6% of the prey remains, respectively. After killing hedgehogs, the Eurasian eagle-owls peel the prickly skin off their backs before consumption, frequently resulting in up to dozens of hedgehog backs being found around nests. Moles and shrews are readily hunted but are usually only a secondary portion of the diet. Eurasian eagle-owls have been recorded hunting the smallest mammal on earth (by weight) the 1.8 g (0.063 oz) Etruscan shrew (Suncus etruscus), as well as the largest mole on earth, the 440 g (16 oz) Russian desman (Desmana moschata). From the smallest shrew to the heaviest hedgehog, the Eurasian eagle-owl has been verified to hunt the full size range of insectivores. They've also attacked bats of every size available, from the smallest European bat, the 5.7 g (0.20 oz) common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus), to the largest species there, the 59 g (2.1 oz) greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus). In the Sikhote-Alin range of the Russian Far East, bats were found to comprise 5.9% of the remains and, of five local owl species, the Eurasian eagle-owl was the most regular predator of bats in the area.
  Larger and more dangerous mammalian prey is not infrequently tackled by Eurasian eagle-owl. Nearly thirty species of mammalian carnivores have been reported in their diet. Many of these are mustelids, which are the smallest type of carnivore but can defend themselves viciously, even the tiny 67 g (2.4 oz) least weasel (Mustela nivalis). Nonetheless, unlike some smaller birds of prey, the Eurasian eagle-owl seems to have no problem subduing various weasels and even martens, some of the latter can nearly equal to their own weight, and will kill the young of much larger species such as European otter (Lutra lutra) and Eurasian badger (Meles meles). However, the single most widely reported carnivore is the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), as they've been recorded in the diet from Denmark and Spain to the Russian Far East. Many fox specimens taken by eagle-owls are young individuals or subadults. Some studies posited that the average fox taken as weighing about 2,500 to 3,000 g (5.5 to 6.6 lb), about equal to the eagle-owl's own weight, but another noted fox specimens killed that were estimated to weigh 8,000 g (18 lb), much larger than the eagle-owls. At least four other species of foxes have been verified as prey in the Middle East and Asia. Raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides), averaging 6,500 g (14.3 lb), have been preyed on in Asia as well. Other relatively large carnivores have been hunted as well, including invasive Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in Spain and masked
caption: The Eurasian eagle-owl is perhaps the only predator to prefer European hedgehogs as food, as one of the few predators not foiled by its prickly defenses.
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