Kaepora Gaebora (offically named and introduced in the Ocarina of Time) is an essential part of many of Link's quests, OoT being the most visible example. Kaepora had a useful role in other stories, such as Link's Awakening, by pointing the way to the next dungeon or objective. His relationship to the talking stone statues is unclear, but in Majora's Mask he has a clear relationship to the staues scattered across the overworld.
In OoT he is strong enough to carry young Link through the air, and can do so repeatedly in certain locations, such as the top of Death Mountain down to Kakariko Village.
According to a gossip stone: "They say that the owl named Kaepora Gaebora is the reincarnation of an ancient Sage."
