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

This is Grendel, our young male Little Owl ☺ Throughout history, Little Owls were often kept domestically in houses with clipped wings to act as domestic pest control for humans. However, times have moved on since then and, thankfully, European legislation was passed protecting them from being kept in this manner. Now, it's new forms of pest control that cause this stunning little species trouble in modern times🦉 Pesticide use has an extremely negative effect on the insect food supplies that the Little Owl is so reliant upon for survival. Humans need to learn from both these mistakes. Yes, insect hunters like Little Owls make a fantastic pest control service, but keeping them trapped in a domestic home environment is unsuitable. Out in the wild, they can thrive as our pest control service - if we were to stop using those chemicals that reduce and contaminate their food sources. Instead, we could try to encourage the owls' presence on our land 🙂🦉Natural insect-hunters like the Little Owl are far more effective at keeping insect numbers down than any spray, tub or pellet that humans synthesise... All we have to do is take a step back and let nature keep itself in balance ☺ That's not to say we can't also try to give natural predators a little helping hand from time to time. We could help by putting out bug hotels, or plant more flowers and shrubs in our gardens (by encouraging the prey first, the predator then follows 😊) We can also provide nest boxes for the owls 🙂 #littleowl #athenenoctua #owls #predatorandprey #conservation #trustnature #balance #raptors #owlsinhistory #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre #ideas #littlethingsmakeadifference #beautifulowls #owlsofinstagram #pintsizepredator #birdsofprey We've been finding evidence of an overnight visitor in our indoor flying arena this past week or so🦉Wild Barn Owls quite often frequent our Centre during the bad weather months. It was at a similar time last year that we had a wild visitor overnighting in the sheltered areas of our Centre 😊 We've been finding pellets, white down feathers and lots of droppings strewn about the corners of our arena! Senior Keeper Trystan has set up the camera trap in the hope we might catch some footage of the visitor as it comes and goes🤞🏻We're also leaving out a little food supply each night, just in case the wild owl struggles to find food during hunts on more windy and rainy nights 🙂 #barnowl #tytoalba #wildvisitor #owls #britishowls #owlsoftheworld #raptor #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #pellets #evidence #nature #beautifulowls There's a fierce intensity underlying in an owl's gaze🦉Sometimes you wish you could see through a little window into their heads ☺ See what else goes on in there, other than 'food?' 😝 Profile of little Sheila, our Southern Boobook Owl #southernboobook #ninoxboobook #owl #owlsofinstagram #owlsoftheworld #australianowls #birdsofprey #fierceeyes #intensegaze #raptors #scottishowlcentre When someone gets offended at you picking up all of his pellets and other assorted junk from his aviary. This is his way of demanding that I return it to precisely where I found it! 😂 Pavlov the Mackinder's Eagle Owl gives me no peace when I'm trying to clean his and Nyala's aviary 😝 #mackinderseagleowl #bubocapensismackinderi #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #owlsoftheworld #owl #raptors #birdsofprey Zeus, our male Eurasian Eagle Owl🦉The Scottish Owl Centre is now officially closed until we re-open again for weekends in January 🙂 Gives all of our trained birds, like Zeus here, a well-earned break during the coldest time of year ❄ Also gives our staff at the Centre freedom to dedicate their full attention to maintenance work around the Centre. Things like refurbishing aviaries, changing perching for the owls, deep cleans and one to one training sessions, too! 😊 #owls #bubobubo #eurasianeagleowl #winterseason #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #raptors #eagleowls #stunning #piercingeyes #aerialpredator Tiger before and after his annual moult🦉He is soggy in the 'after' picture cause he'd just had a bath but, even still, you can see how much his feather condition has improved 😍 His colouring has become so much more vibrant again now! General wear and tear on the feathers through the year inevitably results in them getting dull and scruffy eventually. Now Tiger has replaced all of those worn feathers, he almost doesn't look like the same owl 😆 This is one of the main reasons why we work our owls on rotation throughout the year. It's to give them a relaxation period, too, but it's important that each member of our trained team is given the rest period needed to spark any moulting they need to do 🙂 #brownwoodowl #strixleptogrammica #owl #moult #beforeandafter #owlsoftheworld #rainforestowls #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #raptor #feathers #annualmoult Our little Sunda Scops Owl giving me a threat display whilst I was cleaning her aviary🦉Making sure I didn't come too close to her perch 😝 Cleaning is only acceptable at the opposite end of the aviary to her 😂 On a serious note, though, the 'small brown owls' don't get enough credit... Too often people will just walk past without giving them a second glance - but look how stunning she is when you look closely 😍 #sundascopsowl #otuslempiji #smallowl #tinypredator #beautiful #raptor #birdsofprey #tinyhunter #owl #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre #threatdisplay Our female Rusty-Barred Owl with her beautiful, big, dark eyes🦉A nocturnal owl's eyes are a pair of fascinating, highly evolved hunting tools 👀 Ideally designed with binocular vision and incredible perception in the absence of light. Although unable to see in absolute darkness (an owl is as blind as we humans are in complete, pitch darkness!), it is low levels of light in which their vision truly excels. If as little as moonlight or starlight is available to them in the middle of the night, they can see as clearly as a human could in the middle of a bright, sunny day ☺ If there is no light available, the owl will hunt blind, relying on their highly acute hearing to locate prey instead #rustybarredowl #strixhylophila #owlsoftheworld #owlsofsouthamerica #birdsofprey #owl #owlsenses #hunting #nocturnal #raptor #scottishowlcentre #nightbird #darkeyes #acutesenses #huntingtools Tawny Owl populations in the UK have plunged into a decline. Their status changed very recently from green to amber, which caused the BTO to launch their 'Tawny Owl Calling Survey'. This involves members of the public who take part being assigned a 'tetrad' (green area, potential habitat) which is visited for just 20 minutes to listen for any calling Tawny Owls. You can repeat the process as often or as little as you choose over subsequent weeks, 20 mins is the minimum. You record a tiny little bit of data and forward this to BTO. Through this survey, BTO hope to be able to plot a population map to determine just how concerning the Tawny Owl decline is and get a better handle on the distribution of owls left in the UK. For more information, visit BTO's website and search 'Tawny Owl Calling Survey'. Or you can Google 'BTO Tawny Owl'. Some of our staff and volunteers at the Centre have already been taking part and the survey runs till March 31st 2019. A small effort like this done by a lot of people can make all the difference to conservation of these beautiful birds in the wild 🦉 #tawnyowl #btotawnyowlcallingsurvey #callingsurvey #btotawnyowl #projectowl #btosurvey #strixaluco #conservation #littlethingsmakeadifference #birdsofprey #owls #owlsoftheworld #britishowls #scottishowlcentre When rainy days equal bath days, and bath days equal some very funny owl faces 😂 #soggyowls #bathdayforowls #owlsoftheworld #owls #scottishowlcentre #southernboobookowl #africanwoodowl #northernhawkowl #ninoxboobook #strixwoodfordii #surniaulula #birdsofprey #bathday More feather focus 😊 These have all been moulted by our female Snowy Owl, Fetlar🦉Research into owl feather properties has suggested that paler toned feathers possess better insulating traits than richer tones like browns. One study hypothesises that white feather pigment might be better at trapping and retaining heat than other pigment tones 🤔 So Snowy Owls aren't just white for camouflage purposes! Evolution is a fascinating thing ☺ #snowyowl #feathers #buboscandiacus #featherpigmentation #feathercolours #evolution #owls #owlfeathers #scottishowlcentre #featherstudy #incredibleowls Northern Hawk Owls are an example of an owl species whose population numbers are constantly fluctuating from year to year dependent on how successful a year vole populations have had. Their clutch and brood sizes correlate to the vole numbers. However, they have an advantage over other owl species in similar predicaments. The Hawk Owl is one of few owl species who have the speed and agility required to catch birds in flight🦉In years where their diet is short on voles, pellet studies have revealed that the remainder is supplemented by wild bird prey 🙂 #northernhawkowl #surniaulula #hawkowl #birdsofprey #speed #agility #owlsoftheworld #owlsofthenorth #raptors #scottishowlcentre #owl #diet
Is that a jack-owl-lantern? 😝 (the options for bad Halloween owl puns are endless! 😂 🙈) Sheila the Southern BOObook Owl wishes everyone a happy Owloween! 🦉🕷🦇 This amazing photo of her was taken by Katielee Arrowsmith© and the pumpkin was carved by one of our Keepers at the Centre 🎃 #halloween #southernboobookowl #ninoxboobook #owloween #jackolantern #pumpkincarving #pumpkin #halloweenowl #owlsoftheworld #owlsofinstagram #happyhalloween #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #spooky #spookyowl #pumpkinowl #allhallowseve #houlet #owl #owls #takeoff Mel, our Melanistic Barn Owl, was very impressed with his spooky new perch today 🎃 Getting into the Halloween spirit for tomorrow 🦉Owls have been an object of fascination to humans for years, and are one of the creatures prominently associated with Halloween due to many of them being nocturnal. Stories spoke of the night bird, the witch's familiar, the screeching houlet... Too many legends to name 😋 #owls #halloween #melanisticbarnowl #tytoalba #owlsofinstagram #pumpkin #pumpkincarving #scottishowlcentre #houlet #ngihtbird #nocturnalcreatures #owlsoftheworld #birdsofprey #barnowl Definitely felt like she was judging me when I took this photo 😂 Our recently arrived female Tengmalm's Owl seems to be settling in well with our male. The two can be seen perching together and choosing to sit close within each other's company🦉So glad we were finally able to source a female this year to enable us to set up a pair of these stunning little predators 😍 #tengmalmsowl #borealowl #owl #owlsoftheworld #raptors #birdsofprey #aegoliusfunereus #scottishowlcentre #tinyraptor #owls #pair Sheila, the Southern Boobook, has her eye on something... 😍 Many of the owls whose primary diet is insect prey are far more visual hunters, as opposed to responding to audio cues like many of the small mammal specialist owls🦉Her hearing is still very good but she's often looking more for sights than sounds 😊 A clue to look for that can help deduce whether the owl relies more on eyes than ears, is how much space the eyes take up in the skull 👀 If the bird has a huge head with tiny eyes in comparison, it's all about the hearing - whereas Sheila here has big saucerplate eyes framed by a very petite little head 😋 #southernboobook #ninoxboobook #owls #owlsoftheworld #owlsofinstagram #owlsofaustralia #birdsofprey #accutesenses #hearingvseyesight #scottishowlcentre #raptors Although the patterning on each can exhibit similarities, the shapes can vary dramatically dependent on which part of the owl they've come from🦉Owls have 10 primary wing feathers along the edge of the wing, which contribute massively to their silent flight with the serations along the feather edges 😊 These feathers have all come from Tony our Tawny Owl, during his annual moults #tawnyowl #strixaluco #owl #feathers #moult #primaryfeathers #owlsofinstagram #beautiful #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre #owlsofbritain #owlsofeurope Our Band-Bellied Owl pair basking in the waning sunlight yesterday 😊 The low sunlight really highlights the subtle colour tones in their plumage 🦉#bandbelliedowl #pulsatrixmelanota #owls #eveningsun #beautiful #owlsoftheworld #owlsofsouthamerica #raptors #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #owlsofinstagram #owl New arrival at our Centre this week 😊 He's a young male Tawny Frogmouth who we're hoping could be a potential mate for our resident female, Jessie 🙂 Although more closely related to nightjars than owls, due to their looks, colouring and nocturnal behaviour they are often mistaken for being one. Frogmouths, however, aren't raptors. They don't hunt and kill their prey with their feet. Instead, they use those big, powerful beaks to beat their prey to death 🙂 #tawnyfrogmouth #youngster #newarrival #notanowl #scottishowlcentre #nightjars #birdsofinstagram #birdsoftheworld #nocturnal
 
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"WONDERFUL DAY - BEST FLYING SHOW EVER!!"

P. Clockerty, Glasgow

 
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