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Owl Display - Chrissies Owls
Housed in it's own area of the show, this static display of Owls is a fascinating addition to our shows. These beautiful animals are a great crowd favourite. The birds on display could include:
British Barn Owl - Tyto Alba Barn owls are native to Britain but can be found all over the world in countries like Africa, America, Australia and many others. This is the world's most wide-spread owl. The barn owl is a master of silence. It catches it’s prey by using it’s ears and the huge heart shaped facial disc. This disc traps all the sound the prey makes and passes it back into the ears based on the side of it’s head.
Mice and Voles are on the menu of this owl’s diet. They quarter hay fields and roadsides in search of food and you can sometimes see them flash across in front of your car at night.
Tawny Owl - Strix Aluco This is the most common owl in Britain - also known as the brown owl. This is the owl you hear hooting at night in the trees and is most likely the one you will see passing in front of you when driving in your car. The hooting you hear at night is a call, which determines each bird's territory. They are so territorial that sometimes they will even fight with and kill other intruding owls. Females are again bigger than males. Colours are very similar although tawny owls come in a varied range of colours from almost grey through to almost white. The most common colour to be seen is a mottled brown.
Tawny owls like barn owls prey upon mice and voles but also garden birds up to the size of black birds and thrush. Eyesight is what this owl mainly uses at night to spot it's quarry. It’s large eyes take in lots of light for good night vision.
Eurasian Little Owl - Athene Noctua Although the Little Owl is native to the UK they can be found in most countries except Australia. The aptly named owl stands only around 16 cm tall (female) but when puffed up can be nearly the same around. They have yellow eyes, which means they are virtually diurnal compared to most owls. In the wild they feed on beetles, worms and other insects but will catch mice and small birds on occasions. Their habitat is quite varied but they tend to favour farm and park land. There is thought to be around ten thousand pairs in the UK, most of them in the south and mid-England. They are rarely seen in Scotland.
Eurasian Eagle Owl – Bubo Bubo This Eagle Owl is the largest of the owl species, weighing as much as 10 lbs for females and can have a 5ft wing span. You will no longer see these birds in the wild in the UK. They died out in the eighteenth century. However, they can still be found in large forested areas of Scandinavia. The Eagle Owl has large orange eyes which means it is a bird that will fly and hunt mostly at night. They can catch prey up to the size of foxes and young deer whilst hunting in the wild, but they also feed on rabbits and other smaller mammals. In captivity, these birds can be aggressive as adults and must be hand-reared if they are to be used for flying.
