Welcome to Owl Wood

....the owl friendly page with everything for owl lovers worldwide. This page has myths and tales about owls, fact and fiction, quotes and book recommendations and links to other owl lovers sites.

Owls have featured in many English stories and poetry and perhaps one of the most famous is the solemn and much put upon Owl (spelled WOL) in the Winnie the Pooh children's books. Here is an owl who the other animals look up to in more ways than one - after all he can spell Tuesday- even if he can't spell it right! This is an owl that was loved and respected but not all have been depicted in this way and many owls through the centuries have been hated and feared as harbingers of death or associates of witches ( by which was meant - evil). The Romans called the owl strix which means 'witch' and one of  the names for the owl in medieval times was 'night hag'.

However, the Greeks who regarded the owl as sacred to Athene recognised its association with wisdom - the wisdom of the Goddess. As with other totemic animals associated with women's cults and mysteries such as the wolf/dog, the cat and the bat, the owl was reviled by those who feared women's powers and revered by those who respected them. The owl was the totem of the Triple goddess of the Moon and one of the names for the owl in the Middle Ages was 'night hag' - linking the bird with witches - once revered wise women but later persecuted as evil. The owl has retained this link with witchcraft and is still an image of fear for some people.

This very modern representation of an owl was carved using a chain saw at Westonbirt Arboretum (Gloucestershire).  In many areas of Britain owls can be seen, as in Gloucestershire, especially in the early hours of the night, before it becomes too dark or early in the morning as dawn is just appearing. Barn owls and tawny owls are among the most often sighted although we have also heard and seen a Little Owl in Leicestershire once which made its presence known very loudly outside our window at the farmhouse where we were holidaying.

Here in England, there are several types of owl resident and some we have been lucky enough to watch in the wild. Walking the dogs near the racecourse, not far from our home we saw a barn owl watching us from a fence by the side of the road. It was well into the morning but it may have been hunting food for its offspring - it flew off silently when I approached. The barn owl in the picture on the left was photographed at the Sanctuary - a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in Northumberland. The Sanctuary caters for a variety of injured and abandoned animals and members of the public can 'adopt' one of these by helping to pay for their upkeep.  I was delighted to be able to see several of these beautiful birds at the Sanctuary as well as Little Owls and Tawny Owls , convalescing before being released back into the wild.

Barn owls (Tyto alba) roost and nest in old barns, ruins and neglected buildings as well as in trees and sometimes cliffs. They have a long breeding season starting in early Spring and may rear two broods. The size of each clutch can vary from as few as three to as many as eleven but is usually between four and seven, depending on the supply of food available. The male will feed the female while she is incubating the eggs, a period of about five weeks. The young owls are born covered in white down  and twelve days later develop a creamy coat which will eventually be shed to develop the characteristic golden upper coat mottled with grey and the white underfeathers of the adult.  The young owls are ready to fly at eight to ten weeks old.

The most common of our British owls is the tawny owl - about 20,00 breeding pairs are believed to live here but they are not seen as often as some other of our owls as they are almost exclusively nocturnal and therefore much more difficult to catch sight of. Their Latin name is Strix aluco and they are found in England, Wales and Scotland, but not Ireland or the outer islands of Scotland. The tawny owl prefers to live in deciduous woodland but can be found in large parks or even extensive gardens as long as there are plenty of holes for shelter. Nests can be found in old buildings, hollow trees - the tawny owl will even make use of the abandoned nests of other large birds and will also readily use special owl nest boxes if these are available.

Other owls that can be found in Britain include the Little Owl Athene noctua, the only owl resident here that was deliberately introduced in the 19th century - individual birds had long been brought over the English Channel for sale as pets - they were prized for their cockroach killing skills! (Florence Nightingale owned a pet owl called Athena and had her portrait drawn with the owl.!) Later little owls  were deliberately released into the wild in Yorkshire, Hertfordshire and Hampshire and soon made themselves at home. Today they are the second most common of our owl species.  They are found mostly in open country, often around farmland - where we have seen them - and are most active at dawn and dusk - the best time to look out for them, although they can be seen throughout the day. 

In the Native American tradition, the owl is the totem for people born at the time of the Popping Trees Moon - that is the period between the 11 November and 10 December. It is a time of year when owls may be often seen silently hunting in the dusk and making use of their keen sight and excellent hearing. The deepening winter time is regarded as the time of coming into wisdom - a time for telling of experiences, storing memories and learning - hence its association with the owl - the bird of wisdom.

A good introductory book on British owls with some information also on other owls from around the world is Everything You Want to Know about Owls by Dilys Breese

Useful Owl Links

The Owl Pages The natural history of owls, mythology, art and books - a must to visit.

Owl Cam Home Page A fascinating look into the nesting box of a pair of barred owls. Follow them raising their family!

 Thanks to viistors who provided new link to  the Lady in Black's lovely site