FIVE OTHER OWLS TO SPOT IN BRITAIN

BARN OWL

A ghostly white-and-gold beauty that hunts over open countryside, sometimes by day, and nests in derelict farm buildings. Numbers are recovering after severe declines in the past century.

LITTLE OWL

Introduced to Britain from mainland Europe, this is our smallest species; a fierce-eyed, broad-headed owl of farmland and parkland, which moves from tree to tree with a distinctive bounding flight.

LONG-EARED OWL

In winter, this rare owl roosts in small groups within dense tangled thorn bushes, and hunts along woodland edges after dusk. Buff brown with darker brown streaks, it has tall ear-tufts and amber eyes.

SHORT-EARED OWL

In some years, thousands of short-eared owls from Scandinavia and beyond overwinter in Britain. They hunt on the wing in daylight, over rough coastal grassland, flying with great agility.

EURASIAN EAGLE OWL

The largest owl in the world is huge and very powerful. It’s popular with falconers – our tiny breeding population in north-west England derives mostly from falconry escapees.