At first, a Belgian man thought the noise coming from his outdoor planter was pesky pigeons. Turns out, it was Europe’s largest owl — four of them, writes pintiks
One of the world’s largest owls, the Eurasian eagle owl, set up camp in Jos Baart’s third-storey apartment planter. Since the mother owl’s three gigantic chicks hatched, they’ve taken to watching TV through the window with their new landlord.
They seem to have grown accustomed to each other now, but it wasn’t long ago Baart thought they were a nuisance.
“I thought, damn, those pigeons again,” he says in the video.
He was proven wrong one day when he arrived home and the large mother owl took flight right in front of him.
Eagle owls typically nest on cliffs and ledges, the U.S. National Aviary says, but are sometimes known to take over abandoned golden eagle nests.Guinness World Records recognizes the species (also known as the Bubo bubo) as the largest owl in the world, with a wingspan of more than 1.5 metres. They have no natural predators and a long lifespan of 20 years in the wild, but can live up to 60 years in captivity.