Short abstract from the book: The eagle owl is a scarce breeding bird in Denmark with a
fairly scattered breeding distribution in Jutland. The species
recolonised Denmark in the early 1980s after 100 years of
extinction. The population was estimated at 25-30 pairs in
2003. The first eagle owl was ringed in Denmark in 1984,
with the highest numbers ringed in 1996 (13), 1997 (13)
and 2000 (10). Ninety birds were ringed as chicks. The recovered birds were all ringed in Jutland, mainly in the south.
Thirteen birds ringed as chicks have been recovered. The recoveries show that even though the eagle owls do not migrate,
some do disperse over longer distances (the furthest 163 km).
Sixty-seven per cent of the recoveries were more than 50 km
from the ringing site. Most juveniles seem to stay close to their
hatching sites until October: four birds were all recovered less
than 6 km from the ringing site (mean 2.5 km). Three birds
have been recovered during their first winter. These birds were
found 52-85 km (mean 68 km) from the ringing site. Birds
ringed as chicks and recovered as mature (at least three years
old) had on average moved 78 km (0-126 km, n=5). The
Danish birds do not show any preferred direction of dispersal.
Three chicks from the first breeding pair in southern Jutland
were later recovered in central and western Jutland, and three
were recovered in Germany. The recoveries of eagle owls ringed abroad show that the colonisation of Denmark over the
last 20 years has its origin in the population in Germany:
seven reintroduced birds ringed as juveniles in Schleswig-Holstein have been recovered in Denmark, all in southern
and central Jutland. Neither Danish nor foreign birds have
been recovered east of the Little Belt, indicating that the sea
could be a major barrier to the dispersal of eagle owls.
One of the recoveries was a live recapture, six birds were
found dead, two died in captivity (rearing) and six birds collided fatally with vehicles (3), wires (1) or fishpond nets (2).
Collisions with vehicles and wires are also the major causes of
death among foreign birds recovered in Denmark.
Read more about the species in the chapter from The Danish Bird Migration Atlashere
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