Stone Owl

Stone owls live in a variety of semi-open, landscapes. Favored are extensively used grasslands and other small-scale agricultural areas. The presence of hedges, wooded banks and rows of (pollarded) trees is of great importance. They nest in burrows; in the Netherlands often in pollard willows, barns and rabbit holes and standard orchards.

Especially noisy in March-June. Hiding during the day, but has also been observed sunbathing on rooftops. Flies in deep arcs. Sometimes hopping on the ground. Nods at restlessness like Robins. Sensitive to harsh winters. Food consists of insects, earthworms and small mammals.

Size L 21-23cm – SW 50-56cm

Stand bird.

Long-eared owl

All kinds of wooded areas near open countryside. Also in city parks. Breeds in old crow and raptor nests in dense coniferous forests or in alternate open terrain with thickets and coppice.

Orange-red eyes, low ear tufts (often not visible) and white X-drawing between eyes. Male flaps wings loudly during courtship flight. Hunts mice and small birds. Is displaced here and there by the Tawny Owl.

Pull Throughout the year. In winter sometimes in large groups of several 10 migrants and first-year birds.

Length 35-37cm – Span: 84-95cm

Tawny Owl

Breeding bird of deciduous forests, city parks, gardens and orchards with old trees that provide many nesting opportunities. Prefers park-like setting with ponds (attracts many animals) and lawn (easy hunting).

Medium-sized owl with short tail, a large round head without tufts. Ground color rust brown to gray with dark longitudinal spots; wings and tail with black transverse bands, on wings two rows of drop spots. Beak yellowish, legs gray, nails light at base, blackish gray at tip, iris brownish black. Sexes equally colored, female slightly heavier. Young birds indistinctly transversely banded. All-black eyes. Sometimes its presence during the day is betrayed by alarmed tits and other songbirds. Sometimes attacks if you get too close to its nest!

Tawny owls are active at night and dusk; if there are young, they hunt as early as before sunset until sunrise. During the day, they sit sunbathing in front of their roost or nesting hole. The Tawny Owl obtains its prey from a perch and locates it by ear. However, it also hunts in flight or strikes birds startled from their roost. However, tawny owls are also nest predators, targeting burrowing birds in particular. Eats small rodents, hedgehogs, birds, frogs, larvae, etc … The beaten food, with which the young are fed during the day, is deposited somewhere during the hunt.

The Tawny Owl is a true burrow breeder, seeking ample cavities in trees, buildings or rocks; however, it also exploits old nests of raptors and crows, even holes in the ground. The female scratches the nest site clean and grinds up vomit balls, which should serve as a substrate for the clutch of eggs. Breeding season February to June. Size of nest varies from 3 to 5 eggs, incubation period 28-30 days, nesting period young 28-35 days. Female starts incubating from the first egg. The young are independent after about three months. In autumn they leave the parental territory and seek a territory for themselves in the nearid. Tawny owls stay together throughout their lives and are loyal to the territory.

Stand bird. The Young roam at most 20km.

Size L 37-39cm – Span 94-104cm.

Short-eared Owl

Short-eared owls are ground nesters of rough terrain with clearings such as dune valleys, reed marshes and bogs. Especially on Wadden Islands.

Stark yellow eyes in black mask. Food often consists largely of field mice. Other mice and birds are also eaten.

They are true wanderers. Dutch-born birds sometimes migrate into northern Scandinavia and Russia, but others remain within the country’s borders for their entire lives. Northern populations arrive in April-May and leave again in September-November.

Length 34-42cm – Span 85-93cm

Owl

Great owl, with large head.

Resident bird in mountains and forests, preferring areas with rocks, steep cliffs and old trees (especially conifers). Daytime roosting in dense old spruce or pine trees, in burrows or rock niches. Nests on inaccessible rock ridges, less often on ground at base of rock or tree; exceptionally in abandoned raptor nest or shed.

Active at night and partly at dusk. Food consists of mammals (voles, rats, hedgehogs, hares, cats to even small stray dogs) and birds (crows, gulls, waterfowl, …). Long ear tufts. Flight powerful and stable with fairly shallow wing beats and straight gliding flight like large Buzzard. Striking legs like hanging ‘boxing gloves’. Bright orange large eyes. Song deep, echoing OE-hu; surprisingly soft up close, but still audible 2-4 km away, usually repeated at 8-12 second intervals. At distance, only the first sound audible (may then be confused with the call of the Long-eared Owl but the pace of the Eagle Owl is much slower).

Length 59-73 cm – Span 138-170 cm.

Barn Owl

Farms and villages in semi-open small-scale landscape. Common nesting sites are barns, church towers and other structures, occasionally hollow trees (sometimes breeds twice a year).

Alarms in flight with a screech. Attacks intruders with short, very sharp, penetrating scream. Also all kinds of wondrous sounds in the breeding season. Typical heart-shaped face with black eyes. The highly imaginative barn owl often breeds and hunts in human habitats, but few get a closer look at it. Its food consists mainly of field mice, supplemented by house shrews and wood shrews.

Breeds in March-September.

Length 33-39cm – Span 85-93cm