Athene noctua

A familiar denizen of the archetypal rural landscape of sweeping fields and old trees, Little Owl is actually a recent addition to the bird life of the UK. Introduced to several parts of England in the 1870s and 1880s, the numbers rose, and the species spread until it was found in all parts of lowland England and Wales. Unlike many introduced species, Little Owl seems to be one that is generally welcomed and it does seem to have found a niche in the British avifauna that was previously unoccupied.

Being a species that hunts during the day and at dusk, as well as a bird that habitually sits out in the open, often on exposed perches such as telegraph poles or even road signs, and has a characteristic dumpy, flat-headed appearance they are easily spotted.

Small they may be, but they make up for this with attitude. When spotted, rather than flying away, the Little Owl is just as likely to turn its head slowly towards you and stare until you leave its territory!

VITAL STATISTICS

Size: Average 22cm, wingspan 56cm. Weight averages 180g, although female significantly larger than male.

Status. Introduced, resident breeder.  

Population size. 5,700 pairs.

Conservation status: Not accessed as not native, but rapid decline highlighted by annual monitoring.

Lifespan: Average lifespan is 3 years. Adults have a 65% year-to-year survival. First year survival is just 30%. The oldest known wild bird was almost 14 years old (ringing recovery).

Nesting: Little Owls are cavity nesters, and can be found in tree holes, but they will also make use of buildings and walls, man-made structures and will readily take to nest boxes, both external or internal to buildings. Ground nesting occurs in certain areas, with abandoned Rabbit burrows a favourite.

Number of eggs: 3-4

Incubation: 29-31 days

Fledging time: 37-40 days

Habitat and Distribution: A familiar owl of England and Wales, there are very few breeding records in southern Scotland and Little is only a vagrant to Ireland. As a highly sedentary bird winter and breeding season distribution is almost identical. Little Owl is principally a species of man-made landscapes, being mostly linked with farmland, rural areas, hedges and parkland. 

Movements: Little Owls are remarkably sedentary, with most fledglings not moving more than 20 km before breeding themselves. Before being introduced there were very occasional records of vagrant Little Owls from continental Europe, but British-ringed birds are very stay-at-home.

Feeding: Being small, Little Owls feed heavily on invertebrates, with insects and earthworms making up a large proportion of the diet, but these pugnacious little birds will also tackle small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and even birds. Most food is caught from a stoop, but pursuit on foot is frequent, and Little Owls are known to cache food in times of plenty.

Strix aluco

Tawny Owl is possibly, along with Barn Owl, our most familiar owl. Children grow up knowing the ‘tu-wit-tu-woo’ call of Tawny Owl, but this is actually not the call of one owl, as is often believed. Tawny Owl is one of the few British birds where the pair duet. The female starts with a harsh ‘kee-vik’ and her mate answers with a softer tremulous hoot ‘who-ooooo’. The birds remain in pairs throughout the year and breeding activity begins early, in late winter. Chicks leave the nest well before they can fly, ‘branching’ into nearby trees, from where the adults continue to provision them, and they beg continuously. If a chick falls to the ground they are able to clamber back up into the trees using their very sharp claws to help them walk back up the tree trunk, flapping their tiny wings as they go.

Later in the season and on into autumn and early winter the young are looking for their own territories after having been noisily chased from their birth sites by their parents. Each existing territory they pass through will elicit much calling, shrieking and hooting. This is a dangerous time for the young owls, and many will die, driven from hunting grounds by resident birds before they reach their first year.  

Despite being a common bird, Tawny Owls are rarely seen, as they are highly nocturnal. Often the only sight is a stocky blunt-headed, round-winged silhouette slipping from tree to tree, or sitting on top of a chimney. Tawny Owls roost, usually well-hidden, during the day and if they are located by small birds, they will be mobbed constantly, by Blackbirds, Jays and other noisy birds, often giving away their location and, occasionally, driving them from their roost site in broad daylight.

VITAL STATISTICS

Size: Average 38cm, wingspan 99cm. Weight averages 520g (female) which is bigger than 420g (male).

Status. Resident breeder.

Population size. 50,000 pairs.

Conservation status: AMBER (Due to recent breeding decline).

Lifespan: Average age in the wild is 4 years. Adults have a 74% year-to-year survival. First year survival is just 30%. The oldest known wild bird was almost 23 years and 6 months old (ringing recovery).

Nesting: Tawny Owls are hole nesters, most usually found in tree holes, including vertical ‘chimneys’ where trees have snapped off. They will take to nest boxes designed for them with a vertical chamber. Only the female incubates the eggs.

Number of eggs: 2-3

Incubation: 30 days

Fledging time: 35-39 days

Habitat and Distribution: Tawny Owls are very much birds of woodland, especially broad-leaved woodlands, but they are also very adaptable and will be found wherever there are suitable trees, such as farmland, villages and even urban areas. Within England, Scotland and Wales they can be found anywhere with the exception of high mountains, or other tree-less habitats. They are absent from some of the off-shore islands such as Orkney, Shetland, Hebrides and Isle of Man and the species is also completely absent from Ireland. Tawny Owl, despite its familiarity, is a highly nocturnal species and is difficult to monitor using standard bird monitoring methods. Periodic specific surveys are run, concentrating on the well-known calls and hoots.

Movements: With only one exception (Long-eared Owl), owls are known for not being migratory but Tawny Owl possibly ranks as one of our most sedentary birds. Once a bird has found a territory, which in itself is likely to be only a few kilometres from their natal site, it is unlikely to move for the rest of its life. When first expelled from their parent’s territory in late summer birds will wander in search of the nearest available site but it is believed that the very few longer ‘journeys’ by ringed Tawny Owls have happened with the inadvertent help of vehicles – as all have been recovered dead on roads. It is almost certainly this lack of dispersal that has led to the species’ absence from many of our offshore islands, although some islands, such as Islay, does have the species.

Feeding: Small rodents are usually considered to be the Tawny Owls main prey, but Tawnies are very efficient and adaptable hunters. Urban and suburban birds take a large number of other birds and Tawny Owls are capable of tackling some surprising species such as other owls, Mallards and even gulls. Farm and urban owls make take rats and Rabbits and some birds specialise in frogs and even fish. When times are hard earthworms can make up a large proportion of the diet, although their remains are not found in pellets, and on rare occasions Tawny Owls have been recorded taking carrion.

Falco subbuteo

A bird whose scientific name is known to generations of table football players! Hobby was the favourite bird of the game’s designer Peter Adolph. Until recently, however, this was a scarcely encountered species away from the south coastal heathlands that were this dashing falcon’s usual haunts.

Over the last couple of decades, numbers have risen and the bird can now be found in farmland and over our towns and cities. It has also become a defining sign of spring at wetland reserves, as it stocks up on large aerial insects before moving on to its breeding sites, which are almost inevitably in the tops of trees, usually in old Carrion Crow nests. Relatively small clumps of trees, hedge lines or even isolated large trees will be used, but not woodland, as this is a bird of open country.

Hobbies are similar in size to the more familiar Kestrel, but have a very different silhouette, with long, rakish wings and a relatively shorter tail. Some think this gives the Hobby an ‘anchor’ shape in flight. Flight is often fast, level and direct but, when hunting, Hobbies are incredibly agile. They do not hover. When the plumage is seen well, they could be mistaken for small Peregrines, sharing the grey back and black hood, but Hobbies have distinctive red thighs and belly and heavily marked underparts. The shining white cheek is often visible from a great distance.   

Hobbies have a wide distribution in Europe and across to Asia and China. They winter in southern Africa, with birds from further east in the range wintering in India and S.E. Asia.

VITAL STATISTICS

Size: Average 33cm, wingspan 87cm. Females (240g) somewhat larger than males (180g).

Status: Long-distance migrant breeding bird.

Population size: 2,500 – 3,000 pairs.

Conservation status: GREEN (least concern). Numbers and range of Hobby have been expanding in recent years, possibly due to the increasing number of gravel pits and reservoirs which harbour their dragonfly prey.

Lifespan: Average in the wild of 5 years. Adults have an 75% year-to-year survival. Less than half the juveniles will survive their first year. The oldest known wild bird was almost 15 years old (ringing recovery).

Nesting: Clutches are laid from end of May to early July, to enable their young to be learning independence when there are many young, inexperienced Swallows, martins and Swifts about. There is only one brood a year. Hobbies usually nest in trees, often in old Crow nests. Hobbies start to breed at two years of age, and will spend their first summer back on the breeding grounds learning about the local environment and hunting opportunities.

Number of eggs: 2-3

Incubation: 31-33 days

Fledging time: 29 days

Distribution: Hobbies are found throughout much of England up to a line between Northumberland and Lancashire, as well as in the lowland parts of Wales. Occasional birds are found in Scotland, but the species is still a very scarce, non-breeding, visitor to Ireland.

Movements: Highly migratory. Birds start arriving in mid-April, with the first birds often noted at wetland reserves where they feed on early damsel and dragonflies. Most have left again by mid-September, heading back to their African wintering grounds. 

Feeding: Hobbies are aerial hunters, being incredibly agile and fast in pursuit of their insect or bird prey. Early in the season they feed almost exclusively on dragonflies and damselflies which they catch elegantly in their feet before transferring them to their mouths in flight, in a highly distinctive movement. At some wetland reserves large numbers of Hobbies can be found hunting together. Birds form a large part of their diet, and they will go after any small birds, but specialise in Swallows, martins and even Swifts, which are chased and caught in very fast and dramatic hunting flights. When hunting these prey Hobbies often adopt an active camouflage by sweeping their wings back and flying in a similar way to their prey, allowing them to make a closer approach before being spotted.

Hobbies are often encountered in urban areas, which they are likely to visit on hunting expeditions, lured by the large congregations of Swifts. Listen out for a sudden change in the sound of the Swifts when a Hobby is spotted.