The Largest Collection of Owls in the World

 
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"SUCH A WONDERFUL AND UNIQUE PLACE TO LEARN ABOUT WILDLIFE!"

senninhasenninha, tripadvisor.co.uk

 
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100+ OWLS FROM
AROUND THE WORLD

DAILY ALL-WEATHER
FLYING DISPLAYS

HANDS-ON
EDUCATION FEATURES

HOLD AN OWL FOR A PHOTO

ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND

PICNIC AREA

GIFT SHOP

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FACE TO FACE

Now you can meet face to face the birds that you've only heard as a distant Twit-Twoo. From the giant Siberian Eagle Owl to the tiny Scops Owl you can learn about their habits and habitats and how to help in their conservation. Let these awesome creatures inspire you to make a difference.

 

"WOW, WOW AND WOW AGAIN!!"

C. Kiddell, Somerset

 
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CONNECT WITH US

Tomsk, our Ural Owl, is coming back into training for our upcoming winter flying season 😊🦉She's a tiny little bit distracted, but for her first sessions back she's transitioning back into the mindset fantastically well ☺ #uralowl #strixuralensis #owl #owlsofinstagram #owlsoftheworld #owlsofthenorth #training #flyingdisplays #owls #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #raptor We are currently taking care of a wild Tawny Owl who fell victim to a road traffic accident and was left for dead at the side of a road near the borders. He looks just like our resident Tawny Owl, Tony, who features in the photo. The Scottish Owl Centre isn't really a rescue Centre, our collection consists of healthy breeding pairs of owls who are part of our conservation breeding programme. We simply don't have the space, resources or facilities available to us at the minute to be a rescue centre, unfortunately. However, occasionally, injured owls have been brought to us by concerned members of the public and of course we would never turn them away. The vet has diagnosed the wild Tawny, he has suffered severe head trauma and is currently suffering from loss of sight due to swelling in the head behind the eyes. We have been feeding and supplementing the owl, keeping him rested and safe as he recovers. Hopefully, if the swelling goes down, he will recover his sight. One eye on the direct hit side is still swollen tightly shut, but we are encouraged after Keeper Lauren and Volunteer Ruth checked pupil response in the open eye this morning and his pupil was observed dilating and contracting. If we can be sure the bird returns to full fitness and can survive re-release, we have detailed notes of exactly where the Tawny was found by the borders and we will be able to return and release him back into his home environment. Apart from the head trauma, the wild owl is fully fit and healthy (which it proved when it caught Keeper Lauren with strong talons!) We've named him Spartacus due to how feisty he is 😛 Fingers crossed for Spartacus🤞🏻#tawnyowl #strixaluco #rescue #wildrescue #owl #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre #rehabilitation Working with animals will always be a rollercoaster of ups and downs. Inevitably, there will be times when the animals in your care give you scares, worry, stress and also heartbreak. No creature is immune to ailment and there will always be moments in your career where one of your animals falls ill. My latest heart attack inducing moment has come from Eretria, our Little Owl who has taken ill. Her symptoms were extreme loss of appetite, lack of energy, loss of alertness and slight swelling of her cloaca (rear passage). Keeper Lauren suspected an underlying infection and so Eretria was rushed to the vet. The vet confirmed that it was likely just that, essentially, the owl equivalent of a urinary tract infection in humans. The cause of this would be bacteria entering the cloaca which, after doing some research, we discovered can be caused by an owl sitting on their food (mantling, or potentially sitting on top of a stash in a nest) Cases of such an infection have been observed in both wild birds of prey and captive ones, salmonella from their raw prey has entered their body through the rear passage. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue, birds of prey are designed with natural defences against such bacteria given that their diet consists purely of raw meat. The issue can arise if a bird has moulted out the feathers that usually protect that area all at once, which young, inexperienced birds might do. That's what Tria has done and made herself vulnerable to the infection. Luckily, Tria has been prescribed antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory and is under direct, around the clock care as she recovers at my home. I'm so happy say that after a couple of days on her antibiotics course, she seems to be doing much better ☺ Her appetite is returning, her energy levels are rising and she's looking much brighter and like her usual murderous self 😛 Hopefully, her condition continues to climb as her antibiotic course continues to its end and we get our feisty, tiny murderbird back to full health🤞🏻#littleowl #athenenoctua #owls #owlbiology #scottishowlcentre #owlsoftheworld #owlsofinstagram #health She knew I was there, hiding behind the climber plant at the front of her aviary 😂 Can't fool a creature that can hear tiny sounds like rodent heartbeats 😛 Female Pharaoh Eagle from our pair at the Centre🦉 #pharaoheagleowl #buboascalaphus #owl #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #desertowls #owlsoftheworld #beautiful #icanseeyou Lovely natural photo of Hosking, our 14 year-old Tawny Owl. Currently holidaying in the Lake District and every night we've been hearing the calls of wild Tawny Owls in the trees surrounding the campsite. It has been fantastic to hear 😊 #tawnyowl #strixaluco #owlsoftheworld #hoot #wildtawny #calling #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #owl #wild Been picking up some beautiful feathers lately whilst so many of our owls are moulting 😍 Owl feathers are like fingerprints - completely unique to each individual owl, even within the same species. From left to right we have: Oriental Bay Owl (x2), Western Screech Owl, Band-Bellied Owl, Great Grey Owl, Boobook Owl and American Barn Owl 😊🦉#owls #feathers #orientalbayowl #westernscreechowl #bandbelliedowl #greatgreyowl #americanbarnowl #boobookowl #beautiful #moultedfeathers #patterns #owlsofinstagram #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre Tiger, our Brown Wood Owl, is taking a well-earned break from displays whilst he goes through his first big moult🦉He'll be looking extra handsome by the time he's done, like a whole new owl #brownwoodowl #strixleptogrammica #owl #moult #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #handsome #owlsoftheworld #holiday #handsome Our male Snowy Owl looking particularly pristine following his moult. The Snowy Owl is thought to feature in what might be the earliest known painting of an owl in history. A mother Snowy Owl was depicted with two owlets in a cave painting in France. In the palaeolithic era, the icy Artic climate encompassed far more of the globe than it does now, creeping as far south as France during the Ice Age. That was when the cave painting of this species was drawn🦉#snowyowl #buboscandiacus #owlsofinstagram #cavepaintings #iceage #palaeolithicowls #raptors #birdsofprey #owl #scottishowlcentre #ancientowls #owlsinhistory Ready for his close-up 😋 Pavlov, our male Mackinder's Eagle Owl. The casa nova of the Scottish Owl Centre, on most days we see Pavlov trying to charm his mate, Nyala. Courtship for this species is mostly on the male's part. He advertises an ideal nest site by singing in front of it. His song sounds like cu-cóo-cu, inflating his white throat pouch and bowing slightly to the female. He makes these calls in rapid sequence and, usually, he'll be offering food and scraping about in the nest site at the same time. Once bonded, the two owls may duet together, with the female's vocal pitch being higher than the male's 😊🦉 #mackinderseagleowl #bubocapensismackinderi #owl #birdofprey #owlsofinstagram #raptors #courtship #vocalisation #owlcalls #scottishowlcentre #stunning #handsome If it's possible, I think Sheila the Boobook has gotten even cuter as she's got older 😂 16 weeks old now and she has been performing amazingly well in flying displays and is a hit with the public! Who couldn't adore that little face, though?🦉Don't be deceived by her cuteness, however... Despite those big, innocent eyes, she is designed as the perfect little hunter #boobookowl #ninoxboobook #pintsizedpredator #hunter #raptor #owlet #owlsofinstagram #owl #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #australianowls Male Milky Eagle Owl from our pair at the Centre 😊 In this photo, you can really see the distinctive pink colouring of his bare eyelids. Research determined that those bare eyelids aid with temperature regulation, a method of coping with the extreme heat of their African environment. The pink colour occurs as blood rushes to the surface of the skin, intensifying as environmental temperatures peak (similar to blushing in humans.) The blood is then cooled by the incoming nighttime breezes and is re-distributed through the bloodstream, thus creating an internal cooling effect in preparation for their night's hunt. For a long time, it was thought that this species could not pant like other owls to aid the cooling of their body temperature and that their bare eyelids were almost entirely responsible for temperature regulation... However, following fairly recent research into this species, this has now been rendered false. The Milky Eagle Owl can also pant and that works in tandem with their eyelids to achieve the goal of cooling them down 😊 #milkyeagleowl #bubolacteus #owl #raptor #gianteagleowl #verreauxseagleowl #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #owlsofinstagram #hunter #stunning #temperatureregulation #owlsoftheworld Little video snippets from display arena training with Sheila the 14 week-old Boobook Owl and Mel, the 16 week-old Melanistic Barn Owl today🦉😊 They are both doing incredibly well! #boobookowl #melanisticbarnowl #ninoxboobook #tytoalba #training #owlets #owlsofinstagram #owl #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #raptors The Oriental Bay Owl is a stunning and unusual bird. With no other owls that look quite like it, they are very curious looking creatures🦉. They trust so much in their camouflage ability that they would often sit frozen on their perch and imitate the swaying of a dead leaf on a tree branch rather than taking flight to safety... In some cultures they became known as the 'idiot bird' because of this. Humans could literally walk up to one and pluck the Bay Owl off its perch. They used to be an easy meal in some countries. Thankfully, this has faded into history over the years, but possibly not entirely. Owl species often find themselves in the face of adversity... Yet despite this fact, they are still very much present in our world, even though humans don't always make their continued survival easy for them. Resilience is just one of many fantastic qualities which owls possess - but so many species would benefit from concerted conservation efforts to help boost their chances at survival. Sometimes even the most resilient of creatures need a little help #orientalbayowl #phodilusbadius #owl #owls #birdsofprey #unusual #curious #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #survival #conservation Today, I came across a little row of all three Tengmalm's Owls sitting side by side like this on the perch with the most sunshine 😂 Wished I could've caught a photo, but it was two minutes before a flying display and my camera wasn't to hand. So here's one I prepared earlier 😝 A little snapshot of a sunbathing Tengmalm's Owl from the last sunny day at our Centre 🦉#tengmalmsowl #borealowl #aegoliusfunereus #owl #sunbathing #owls #owlsofinstagram #tinyraptor #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre Eretria, our Little Owl, a.k.a fat, floofy little murder ball 😂 Many species of owl can be traced back to ancient human civilisations. Owls have been on our planet for a very long time. The Little Owl in particular has ties to Ancient Greece. This is where one of the first links between owls and wisdom were made. In several Greek towns and cities, they would build shrines and statues to honour their goddess of wisdom, Athena. On multiple occasions, pairs of Little Owls would move into a crevice of the statue and nest there. Thus sparking the ideologies that they were a vessel for Athena, her familiar, the embodiment of wisdom... and it was all because the Greeks thought it was a very clever place for the owl to nest. The Little Owls were safe, they could survey the world around them and spot danger/prey from their high vantage point 😊 #littleowl #athenenoctua #greece #ancientgreece #wisdom #owl #mythology #owlsofinstagram #tinymurderbird #owls #birdsofprey #tinypredator #scottishowlcentre Mel, our melanistic Barn Owl has grown into a stunning bird🦉His ambassadorial training has officially started 😉 Today we were out and about for a wander on the glove, getting used to the sights and sounds of the Centre. Next stage will be flight training in our arena! #melanisticbarnowl #barnowl #tytoalba #melanism #striking #stunning #owl #owlsofinstagram #birdsofprey #raptor #scottishowlcentre #owls So often people miss our Short-Eared Owls who very well could be sitting less than five feet away from visitors within their aviary... And this is why! 😂 Our advice to our visitors is always 'look for amber eyes in the grass' 👀 This is exactly where they'd be hiding out the wild, too. It's one of the reasons why they're one of the most elusive British species - unless you're lucky to see them in flight or catch them hunting from a fence post🦉#shortearedowl #asioflammeus #mastersofcamouflage #camouflage #plumage #ambereyes #owl #hidden #birdsofprey #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #raptor #hunter Our young pair of Band-Bellied Owls have really settled into their new home now at our Centre🦉They feel very secure in their aviary space, have established their favourite sit-spots like all of our other owls and are much more confident around visitors than in the beginning 😊 Still the first and only in the UK, they are incredibly striking birds with stunning markings. We still feel extremely privileged to have been able to introduce them into our Centre. #bandbelliedowl #pulsatrixmelanota #owls #birdsofprey #raptor #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #birdsofinstagram #owl
Alicanto the Magellanic Horned Owlet is growing up into a very handsome owl (albeit very slowly! One day we will lose the last of the baby floof 😂)🦉Alicanto has featured in his first flying display and has proven to be a bit of a pouncing extraordinaire 😆 The speed this youngster can build up when going in for a pounce is amazing! #magellanichornedowl #bubomagellanicus #magellanhornedowl #owl #owlsofinstagram #raptor #pounce #birdsofprey #owlet #scottishowlcentre #ambassador
 
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"WONDERFUL DAY - BEST FLYING SHOW EVER!!"

P. Clockerty, Glasgow

 
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