The Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) is a sit-and-wait predator (Cramp 1985) that captures a wide range of prey, from beetles (Order Coleoptera) to roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) fawns (Mikkola 1983). The diet of the eagle-owl has been well documented in Europe (Foerstel 1977, Leditznig et al. 2001, Wassink 2003), and in Mediterranean ecosystems of the Iberian peninsula, the species seems to specialize on rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus; Hiraldo et al. 1975, Serrano 1998, Martínez and Calvo 2001, Martínez and Zuberogoitia 2001).

The diet of this species is usually assessed by analysis of pellets and/or food remains (Marchesi et al. 2002), and this makes it difficult to determine if prey were captured alive or taken as carrion. Wassink (2003) suggested the possible occurrence of scavenging by eagle-owls after finding roe deer remains in eagle-owl nests in the Netherlands. Although other raptors on the Iberian peninsula use carrion, including that of the European rabbit (Hiraldo et al. 1991, Ferrer 2001), consumption of rabbit carrion has not been reported for eagle-owls.