There are many different kinds of owls, all birds of prey, hunting small
mammals, insects and other birds (and some owls hunt fish). Owls tend to keep to
themselves and are mostly nocturnal. They have large forward-facing eyes and
have to turn their whole head to look to the side. The smallest owl is the Elf
owl, which is only about 13cm long, while the largest are the Eurasian
Eagle Owl and Blakiston's Fish Owl which can reach 70cm long and have a wingspan
of over 2 metres! There are five species of owl in Britain: the British barn
owl, tawny owl (pictured above), little owl, short-eared owl and long-eared owl.
Fun fact: a group of owls is called a "parliament".
A Wise Old Owl
Why do we think of owls as "wise"? In Greek mythology, the owl was associated
with the goddess Athena, the goddess of wisdom. In fact, the city of Athens is
named after Athena, and its emblem is the owl. See old English nursery rhyme
below, too!
There is an old English poem about a "wise old owl" - you can find it (with a
printable poster) below.
Owl Colouring
A realistic colouring page of an owl sitting in a tree for children to print and
colour. Owl colouring page
Don't forget to look at our British
wildlife printables page - there are lots of owls included in the sets of
bookmarks, dominoes, flashcards, name cards etc.
