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Stamps and collecting

2 January 2015 - Wildlife in Norway

The Eurasian eagle-owl is the huge bird of prey known as a symbol of wisdom and erudition. Everyone from major publishing houses to Harry Potter has made use of different types of owl to strengthen their profile with knowledge and wisdom.

A fully-grown Eurasian eagle-owl has a wing-span of between 1.50 and 1.80 metres. The easiest way to recognise an eagle-owl is by its high «eyebrows» or its bushy ear tufts that look more like horns.

 

NK 1898
Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo)

Even in the dark he can see well and his wings are constructed so that the eagle-owl can fly almost silently, even in quite dense forest. In coastal areas the eagle-owl preys on gulls and seabirds; inland, small rodents and hare are at the top of the menu.

The eagle-owl does not breed until he is 2-3 years old. An eagle-owl couple is faithful - they stay together for life. It is common to find up to six eggs in the nest in March, but the eggs need take over a month to hatch. Thereafter it takes two months for the young to be able to fly, and four more months before they can cope on their own.
 
Before becoming a protected in 1971, hunting the eagle-owl was in the process of wiping out the species. In recent years it is the electricity pylon which acts like an electric chair on the eagle-owl. The eagle-owl likes to sit up high to watch over its hunting grounds. They sit like this at length before then moving to an even higher point to get a view from a different angle. Electricity pylons are perfect for this - if only they were not filled with electricity.

In 2012, Bergens Tidende ran a story about the first perches in electricity pylons for eagle-owls. The electrified cross-bars of the pylon themselves are fitted with spikes to keep the eagle-owl away, but extended bars have been attached to the end of the cross-bars where the eagle-owl can sit in safety. After the first ten perches were installed at Tjeldstø in Øygarden in 2012, finding dead eagle-owls by the electricity pylons is a much rarer event. Today between 1,400 and 2,000 eagle-owls breed in Norway.

Facts

Wildlife in Norway
NK 1898
Date of issue: 2 January 2015
Value and subject: Kr 31.00: Eurasian eagle-owl (Bubo bubo)
Photo: © Stig Tronvold / NN / Samfoto / NTB scanpix
Design: Inger Sandved Anfinsen
Method of printing: Offset
Printing house: Joh. Enschedé Security Print