WILDLIFE IN LANCASHIRE & YORKSHIRE
Live Owl Webcams
Robert E Fuller and his team have given us permission to share the link below to show their 24 hour webcam of Owls in the wild.The barn owls on the stream are Gylfie (female) & Finn (male) our resident pair, Howard (male), Ghost (male), and Bronte (female). The tawny owls are Bomber (male) and Luna (female). Thanks guys for letting me share this fantastic site
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There are around 200 different owl species.
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Owls are active at night (nocturnal).
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A group of owls is called a parliament.
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Most owls hunt insects, small mammals and other birds.
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Some owl species hunt fish.
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Owls have powerful talons (claws) which help them catch and kill prey.
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Owls have large eyes and a flat face.
Six types of owls you would currently find in the UK
Barn Owl identification
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About 330mm tall with a wing span of 900mm.
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Largely white underparts.
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Golden buff upper-parts with grey markings.
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White, heart-shaped face with dark eyes.
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Overall impression in flight of a large white bird.
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Slow, buoyant flight in a back and forth motion.
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Lives mainly in open farmland habitat (not woodland).
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Seen but not often heard, they call rarely.
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Barn Owls don’t hoot! They shriek, hiss and snore.
Tawny Owl identification
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About 430mm tall with a wing span of 950mm.
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Brown or grey underparts and upperparts.
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More rounded brown or grey face with dark eyes.
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Overall impression in flight of a large brown bird (but can look pale in car headlights).
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More direct flight, often from tree to tree.
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Primarily live in woodland habitat but anywhere with mature trees (including cities).
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Familiar and common ‘twit twoo’ call. Usually Tawny Owl females ‘kewick’ and males ‘hoohoo’ – but they can be variable.
Little Owl identification
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About 220mm tall with a wing span of 560mm.
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Mottled brown and white underparts and upperparts.
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Narrow brownish face with pale yellow eyes and dark irises.
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Overall impression in flight of a smallish brown bird.
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Characteristic, direct, undulating flight.
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Lives in mixed farmland habitat, particularly where there are fruit trees/orchards.
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Repetitive call is a plaintive ‘kiew kiew’ and a ‘wherrow wherrow’ (reminiscent of a small dog barking)
Long-eared Owl identification
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About 350mm tall with a wing span of 950mm.
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Mottled pale and dark brown underparts and upper-parts.
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Rounded brown face, orange eyes with dark iris and long ear-tufts (when raised).
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Overall impression in flight of a large brown bird (though surprisingly small when perched).
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Buoyant flight in a back and forth motion but rarely seen.
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Lives in woodland and farmland habitat.
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Has a rarely-heard repeated ‘hoo, hoo, hoo’ call uttered only in the breeding season.
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Extremely nocturnal but communal roosts can occasionally be found in thick cover in the winter.
Short-eared Owl identification
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About 350mm tall with a wing span of 1000mm.
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Mottled pale brown underparts with upper breast streaked dark brown.
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Mottled pale and dark brown upperparts.
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Rounded brown face, yellow eyes and short, often indiscernible ear tufts.
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Overall impression in flight of a large brown bird (but underparts can look almost white).
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Buoyant flight in a back and forth motion.
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Lives in farmland, moorland and wetland habitats, including marshes and reedbeds.
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A male’s rarely heard song is a low ‘boo-boo-boo-boo-boo’, whilst females give a ‘ree-yow’ call.
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Both nocturnal and diurnal, they can be seen hunting in daylight in suitable habitat.
European Eagle Owl identification
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Eurasian Eagle-owls combine fast and powerful flights with shallow wing beats and long, fast glides. They also soar on updrafts, displaying a type of flight similar to that of soaring hawks like the Red-tailed Hawk.
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Eurasian Eagle-owls are among the world's largest owls.
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Their pumpkin orange eyes and feathery ear tufts make them one of the most striking owls in the world.
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Eagle owls can breathe easy, because they are not hunted by any other animals. The only problem that they might face is having competition with other birds for food. Because they have no known predators, eagle owls can live long lives. In the wild, an eagle owl can live for nearly 20 years or more. If an eagle owl lives in captivity and not in the wild, it can live to be over 50 years old.