Rare! Four Eurasian Eagle-Owls Engage in 8-Minute Battle for a Nest, Magpies Watch the Show
Source | Urban Scene & Shaanxi News
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Recently, in Wending Village, Shaanxi Province, a veteran elm tree witnessed a fierce competition for nests between two pairs of wild eurasian eagle-owls, shaking the sky and darkening the ground. What's even more remarkable is that the intense struggle also attracted cuckoos and other eurasian eagle-owls to observe from close range.
Shaanxi Hanzhong Eurasian Eagle-Owl National Nature Reserve Engineer Zhang Yueming said that he has been working on protection for 30 years, and this is the first time he has encountered such a thing. The entire struggle lasted about 8 minutes, and the original owner of the nest ultimately won and defended his own nest.
According to local villagers, this tree has previously housed a pair of eurasian eagle-owls, which were driven away this year by a pair of new arrivals. Surprisingly, the original eurasian eagle-owls returned after several days to reclaim their nest, and the new arrivals were unyielding, leading to a fierce battle. At the most intense moment, they even perched on each other's necks and attacked.
Zhang Yueming explained that eurasian eagle-owls typically rely on their size to dominate nests. During the battle between the two pairs, the cuckoos that came to observe were likely the first to live in this tree.
The global population of eurasian eagle-owls has now exceeded 3000, and the species is essentially no longer endangered. The successful protection of the eurasian eagle-owl has become the best example in the world for saving endangered species.
