All about British owls

DON’T judge a book by its cover, so the old saying goes. Not so in this case. The Owl has a wonderfully tactile dusky blue dust jacket and a striking cover illustration of a luminescent bird perched on a mossy bough. Both invite the reader to take a peek inside.

And if they do, they will not be disappointed. This recent release from naturalist and writer Stephen Moss provides a captivating look into the lives and legends surrounding some of Britain’s most enigmatic avians. Bookended by a prologue and epilogue, its nine chapters take a nocturnal flight with these birds, through their natural and cultural history, their celebrations, trepidations and mysteries.

Badged as a ‘biography’, it starts first with a general survey of the family – anatomy and behaviour – before turning to the relationship between owls and us. As Moss points out, despite the fact we rarely see these birds, we have invested them with a vast array of folkloric associations, some of which sharply contradict each other. Owls, then, can be cute and cuddly, wise and learned, malevolent and doom-laden. Sometimes agents of magical mystery, sometimes messengers from the underworld, alien yet also anthropomorphic. Trying to make sense of this cultural tumble, he points out that ‘owls can be all things to all people,’ before suggesting that their nocturnal ways and unusual ‘look’ might help explain how humans have viewed them with an intensity reserved for few species.

In the subsequent chapters, Moss digs deeper into tales of the seven owl species which exist in Britain, from the common Tawny Owl to the enigmatic and rare Eurasian Eagle-Owl, with a last chapter devoted to owls around the world. The book offers an engaging and rewarding flight, one that captures well the fascination and captivation we have for this family and deftly combines a glimpse into the natural lives of each, the personal reminiscences of the author and a richly textured cultural story that spans Gilbert White to Springwatch.