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

If anyone ever wondered what a nosey Great Grey Owl on bath day looks like... wonder no more 😂 Here's a soggy Oulu thoroughly investigating my phone camera lens after her bath the other morning🦉Such a majestic creature - but not so much on bath day! 😂 #greatgreyowl #strixnebulosa #owls #owlsoftheworld #owlsofthenorthernhemisphere #birdsofprey #raptors #owlsofinstagram #soggy #bathday #owlybathday #scottishowlcentre #yelloweyes #owlstagram One of our non-owl birds, our male Tawny Frogmouth, has been sitting in the nest these past couple of days 🙂 One of the ways in which these birds differ from owls is that both the male and the female take it in turns to incubate any eggs! The fact that he's been in the nest every day for the past couple of days might suggest that they've got something🤞🏻 It is this pair's first possible breeding attempt, so we'll just have to wait and see whether the eggs are viable and anything hatches 😊 Baby Tawny Frogmouths are such funny-looking little things - a massive break set into a tiny fluffball. They look a little like Furbies 😂 #tawnyfrogmouth #notanowl #podargusstrigoides #incubating #pair #nesting #firstattempt #birdsoftheworld #birdsofaustralia #birdsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre Our youngest male Oriental Bay Owl 🦉The colouration on this species of owl is absolutely stunning 😍 They are said to have a very rapid, maneouvrable flight and show great skill in evading obstacles in their path ☺ #orientalbayowl #phodilusbadius #owl #owlsoftheworld #beautiful #owls #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #raptor #birdsofprey #skillful #flightstyle #owlstagram International Women's Day today, so thought we'd join in by posting photos of some of our beautiful female display team birds🦉In order of left to right swipe we have: Sheila, the Southern Boobook Owl; Bramble, the African Spotted Eagle Owl; Tehuti, the Pharaoh Eagle Owl; Cali, the American Barn Owl and finally Oulu, the Great Grey Owl! 😊 #southernboobookowl #ninoxboobook #africanspottedeagleowl #buboafricanus #pharaoheagleowl #buboascalaphus #americanbarnowl #tytoalbapratincola #greatgreyowl #strixnebulosa #owls #females #owlsoftheworld #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #displaybirds #owlambassadors #raptors #birdsofprey #internationalwomensday New arrival at our Centre 🙂 Meet Kira, the Red-tailed Hawk! She belongs to Senior Keeper Trystan and she has been settling in well to her new home at SOC 😊 The Red-tailed Hawk is direct competition for the Great Horned Owl out in the wild🦉, with the two birds often being recorded during fierce altercations over potential nest sites! It's very interesting comparing and contrasting owls to other raptors. On top of that, she is a beautiful bird 😍 #redtailedhawk #raptor #birdsofinstagram #nonowl #aerialpredator #birdsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #beautiful #buteojamaicensis #raptorsofinstagram #birdsofprey #hawk
Cute as a button... but don't underestimate them! They are a lethal little predator and an extremely effective hunter🦉They're also an incredibly hardy little species, able to survive some impressively cold temperatues in their natural Boreal forest habitat. This is one of our Tengmalm's Owls from the Centre 🙂 They're such a stunning little species, and one of these wee beauties has recently popped up as a visitor to the Isle of Shetland this year. A first for Scotland in at least 100 years! #tengmalmsowl #borealowl #aegoliusfunereus #owl #owlsoftheworld #raptor #tinypredator #lethallittlehunter #owlsofinstagram #scottishowlcentre #birdsofprey #yelloweyes #brighteyes #owlstagram #owls Altai, the Western Siberian Eagle Owl🦉She and our Snowy Owl, Fetlar, are coming into their last few weeks of displays for the moment 🙂 With the temperatures climbing, it's almost time for them to go on holiday till the colder months come again later in the year. It's more comfortable for colder climate species like them to work in lower temperatures ☺ #westernsiberianeagleowl #bubobubosibiricus #owls #eagleowl #owlsofinstagram #orangeeyes #fieryeyes #raptors #beautiful #birdsofprey #predator #aerialpredators #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre Our female Spectacled Owl🦉Their call is a sequence of six short, rattling hoots gaining in speed and lasting for a few seconds. Then they pause for differing lengths of time, before repeating the same series of hoots over again. Some authors have written that their vocalisation is similar to the tapping of a Great Spotted Woodpecker. Also, locally in Brazil, Spectacled Owls are colloquially known as 'knocking owls' 😊 #spectacledowl #pulsatrixperspicillata #owl #owlsoftheworld #scottishowlcentre #raptors #knockingowl #birdsofprey #vocalisation #owlcalls #owlsofsouthamerica Although we are the Scottish 'Owl' Centre, we do house a couple of non-owl species here, too. One of those species is the Laughing Kookaburra 😍 Not only are they intelligent, inquisitive birds that are lovely, characterful birds to house - but it also provides an opportunity to compare and contrast with all of our owls. To mention a couple, although they are also predatory birds, Kookaburras employ a completely different hunting method to owls. Their toes and feet are of a different structure, and their eyes are on the sides of their heads. Kookaburras are generally a more active bird across the day compared to our owls. This isn't just because a lot of owls are nocturnal (remembering that not every owl is nocturnal, though!)... It comes down to an innate, fundamental difference in the natures of these two different types of bird 🙂 #owlsandotherbirds #kookaburra #birdsoftheworld #nonowls #dacelonovaeguineae #laughingkookaburra #scottishowlcentre #beautiful #intelligent #curious #comparisons #birdsofinstagram #birdsofaustralia Poncho, our tiny Tropical Screech Owl 😊 He is the smallest member of our display team, weighing in at 119g on an average day 🦉 Despite his tiny size, he is actually one of the oldest members of the team at the grand old age of almost 11 years old! #tropicalscreechowl #megascopscholiba #owl #owlsoftheworld #birdsofprey #tinyraptor #scottishowlcentre #owlsofsouthamerica #tinyowl #owlsofinstagram Nyala, our female Mackinder's Eagle Owl🦉The tufts on some species of owls' heads are an important form of body language. Different positions convey different moods 🙂 Tufts held at 45° angles, like Nyala's in the picture, tells us that the owl is fairly relaxed and feeling unthreatened. Tufts pressed flat on top of the owl's head, when they are not about to take off, tells us that there is something in their vicinity that they are unsure/afraid of. Tufts pointing straight up tend to be a sign of an aggravated or angry owl, and that's a warning that can be followed by aggression. Posturing and other types of body language, along with vocalisations, also accompany the tufts. As for owls who possess no tufts, they rely solely on those other forms of language to let us know how they are feeling. Understanding an owl's body language is a vital part of working alongside these birds. There has to be a mutual respect. Our owls send us visual messages and it is our responsibility to translate and respect those signals 🙂 It allows us to tailor our behaviour to avoid causing our birds any undue stress or worry. Or, by recognising the signs of a worried owl, we can trace and remove the source of that worry from their environment completely. It keeps our staff safe, too! Since any owl, whether it be a big Eagle Owl or a tiny Little Owl, is capable of causing damage #mackinderseagleowl #bubocapensismackinderi #owl #owlsoftheworld #owlbehaviour #bodylanguage #owlbodylanguage #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #raptors #mutualrespect #predators #interaction This boy did his first flying display in about 4 months today 😊 Kashmir, the Indian Eagle Owl, has had a good break to moult and relax over winter. Now we're bringing him back in ready for our Spring/Summer season. He flew like a dream today, as if he'd never had any hiatus ☺ Such a beautiful owl to work with and possesses a fierce intelligence, too🦉#owls #indianeagleowl #bubobengalensis #owlsoftheworld #raptor #fieryeyes #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #owl #flyingdisplay #owlambassador As of tomorrow, the Scottish Owl Centre will revert back to our regular opening hours, now that our owls have had a good break over the winter period ☺🦉Oulu, our Great Grey Owl in the photo, may not be too impressed with this as it means she might need to start doing some work again! 😋 From 1st February, we will be open 7 days a week. The opening hours change back to 11.30am until 4pm, with final entry being 1 hour before closing time, so 3pm 🙂 #greatgreyowl #strixnebulosa #scottishowlcentre #owlsoftheworld #owlsofinstagram #owl #beautiful #yelloweyes #snowyhunter #coldclimateowls #birdsofprey #raptors #owlsofthenorthernhemisphere
Alicanto, our Magellanic Horned Owl🦉When we name our trained owls, we like to give them a name that suits them individually or pertains particularly to their species. The Magellanic Horned Owl is a South American species, found in places like Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Alicanto is named after an ancient Peruvian legend that talks about a bird called the 'Alicanto'. The Alicanto comes out at dusk time, with bright wings that contrast with the darkening sky. It was said to have fierce, orange eyes that burned like balls of flame and it would patrol its territory as darkness rolled in. Somewhere within its territory, the Alicanto was said to have a hidden treasure stash. The legend goes, that if a human could follow the Alicanto without the bird seeing, hearing or realizing they were on its tail - it would lead them back to its treasure stash and permit them to keep its treasure. However, if the Alicanto figured out that it was being followed, it would lead the humans to the edge of a cliff and over it... to their ultimate doom 😛 There is a good chance that legend could have been based on an owl like the Magellan Horned. Owls have sparked imagination all over the world, with each culture having their own myths, legends and folklore surrounding them. Their air of mystery and grace holds an allure for so many people ☺ Conversely, sometimes owls can be painted in very negative lights due to fierce superstition. This ultimately does put them in the crosshairs in some parts of the world. Fortunately, more and more people are coming forward and making an effort to help educate about owls. This helps to correct misconceptions and alter those negative perspectives. Sadly, whether owls in the wild will ever be truly safe from persecution by humans still remains to be seen #magellanichornedowl #bubomagellanicus #hornedowl #southamericanowl #owlsoftheworld #birdsofprey #owl #raptor #mythology #folklore #uncertainty #mysteriousbirds #owls #superstition #conservation Update on our wild Barn Owl visitors🦉There are now at least two wild visitors who have taken up residence at our Centre. A male and a female who have been observed showing courtship/mating behaviour overnight on our trail cam footage! Which means there is potential they have found a suitable nest site and we might just have wild Barn Owls breeding this year within our Centre! Senior Keeper Trystan is planning a nest-box build for them to give them more options - although they may disregard it entirely and choose to nest happily in our many rafters! 😊 If they do, we will cordon off that little section to provide them with a little more security. It may not come to anything, but it is looking very promising! We shall have to just wait and see🤞🏻🙂 #barnowls #tytoalba #wildvisitors #courting #scottishowlcentre #owls #owlsoftheworld #britishowls #wildlife #raptors #birdsofprey #waitandsee #nature #barnowl Aharoni's Eagle Owl feathers 😍 The distinction between the soft and dark colours on these are just beautiful! One of my favourite moulted feathers to pick up in aviaries🦉#aharoniseagleowl #bubobubointerpositus #eagleowl #owlsoftheworld #raptors #owl #owlfeathers #moulting #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #beautiful #beautifulowls Another little home-grown produce project we had last year was a bumper crop of Sloes grown in a few of the aviaries (most came from the Tawny Owl aviary!) Hopefully, we'll have the same again this year! Once again, our multi-talented volunteer Ruth, used them to brew a batch of Sloe Gin using the harvested Sloe berries! 😄 She even went to the trouble of packaging and labelling the beverage. Ruth used a photo of Tony, our Tawny Owl, as the face of 'Tawny Tipple' a 'Strix Sloe Gin' 😊 #strixaluco #tawnyowl #tawnytipple #sloegin #homegrownsloes #scottishowlcentre #freshproduce #owl #owlsofinstagram #owlsoftheworld #britishowls #europeanowls #raptors #birdsofprey #plantingprojects Our Oriental Bay Owl female peering through some foliage🦉Last year, one of our volunteers, Ruth, came up with the idea of growing climber plants up the front of the mesh on some of our aviaries. Ruth sourced and planted things like runner beans and sweet peas. Once the plants had begun to flourish, we noticed a change in behaviour from some of our more cautious owls - like the Bay Owls. They ventured closer to the front of their aviaries and sat behind the climber plant! With just a little extra veil between them and the public, they felt more at ease and curious to come closer ☺ Staff and volunteers also got to take home the fresh runner beans to cook with them! This year, that's going to be a new focus of ours. We hope to incorporate more plants that will grow fresh, edible, sustainable produce to help to educate children on where their food actually comes from (before the supermarket! 😛) and could be grown in their own gardens 🙂 We also hope to be able to give out some of our produce at the Centre to anyone who is interested in experimenting with/using more fresh ingredients in home cooking 😊 #orientalbayowl #phodilusbadius #owls #climberplants #planting #freshingredients #sustainableingredients #birdsofprey #scottishowlcentre #newyearplans #raptors #owlsofinstagram #owlsoftheworld
 
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"WONDERFUL DAY - BEST FLYING SHOW EVER!!"

P. Clockerty, Glasgow

 
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