The UK’s tawny owl population is estimated to have fallen by more than a third since the 1970s. A likely reason for this is loss of woodland habitat (click the link to read about how we are creating a native wood from scratch at Orton Academy). That’s why we were excited to see tawny owls in a different location we look after! With pictures from our wildlife camera traps, Dr. Orton introduces our pair of tawny owls!
The iconic “twit twoo” of the tawny owl is often responsible for the eerie atmosphere felt in the woods at night. Actually, this call is a duet of male and female owls, not the work of a single individual. What better time than the spooky month of October to introduce you to our resident tawny owls?
About Tawny Owls
One of the UK’s five resident owl species, the tawny owl is a compact, powerful bird with a rounded head, huge eyes and a hooked beak.
Specially adapted for hunting in woodland, they have brown feathers and silent, rounded wings. Tawny owls are a lot smaller than many people think: females usually weigh the same as a wood pigeon and males are even smaller. Tawny owl wingspan, however, can be up to one metre.
Tawny owls live all over the UK, usually in broadleaved woodland, although they do venture out into farmland when hunting. They mainly eat mice and voles, hunting at night by swooping silently on their prey.
About Owl Pellets
One sign that owls are living in the area is pellets: regurgitated pieces of food, such as hair or bones, which have not been digested.
Owl Pellet
We found a pellet with unusual content for an owl pellet: no bones, but feathers and two large seeds, which must have been in whatever the owl had eaten.
Dissected Owl Pellet
About Our Owl Pair
Tawny owls normally mate for life and it looks like we have a pair in our owl box!
Owls normally lay two or three eggs in the spring, which will hatch after a month or so. Owlets (baby owls) undergo a process of ‘branching’, leaving the nest to spend several days in surrounding branches. Owlets will be independent by the end of autumn.
Click the link to meet some of the other animals that live in our woodland!
Find Out More
If you’re interested in conservation and wildlife, we have a blog series on British wildlife and a series on the people and wildlife of South Asia, from the altitudes of the Himalayas to the dense mangrove forests of Bangladesh!
We also offer online private tuition in our interdisciplinary course, Culture and Conservation, in which you can explore the links between our natural and cultural heritage and study wildlife and cultures from across the world! This is a template of a possible study route and can be combined, adapted, or designed from scratch to suit your interests and goals.
Dr. Orton will work with you to design a course of private tutorials tailored to your needs, ability and schedule. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with her and contact us to find out more!
Do More
For those who would like to take action to preserve our wild spaces, there’s plenty you can do. Even if you don’t have a big garden, there are plenty of things you can do to help biodiversity in your area. Why not put up a solitary bee nesting box or insect home, create a woodpile as a habitat for small creatures or leave small areas of your garden to go wild?
Think about your own area and how you can protect vulnerable but important parts of your own environment. You might even want to start your own project investigating the cultural importance of wildlife in your area. Dr. Orton works with independent scholars undertaking their own research for an independent project, people writing a book or simply those who have a personal interest. Click the link to find out what it’s like to work with her and contact us to get started!
Reach Out
We’d love to see what you’re doing to help wildlife in your area. Follow the Conservation highlight reel on the Orton Academy Instagram to see what we’re getting up to and tag us in to any snaps you put up!
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