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Little Owl
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Little Owl

Standing at 20 centimetres in height, this is Britain's smallest owl. 'Not a native bird to Britain, imported from Spain or Italy (I think) during the 1800s. Preferred habitat is young plantations (I think) but those are becoming few and far between. We do very well for these birds 'round these parts: lots of open farmland with disused buildings and lots of quarries, and these birds have adapted into those habitats, including quarries on the coast. This Little Owl lives about a mile from my home in a disused building surrounded by farmland. I first saw this bird four years ago on my walk down to the local reservoir in the exact same spot/recess as in the picture, and recently I've thought it's about time I tried to get a picture. Little Owls have a life expectancy of around 16 years and so probably the same bird. They're a highly sedentary species and remain close to their birthplace for life. Edit: apparently the life expectancy is up to 16 years but the average is about 3 years.
Habitat
Disused building, open farmland.
Location
County Durham
Date taken
25th February 2024
Equipment used
Nikon P950

Media information

Category
Britain & Europe
Added by
PaulCountyDurham
Date added
View count
205
Comment count
8

Image metadata

Device
NIKON CORPORATION COOLPIX P950
Aperture
ƒ/6.5
Focal length
357.0 mm
Exposure time
1/800 second(s)
ISO
400
Flash
Off, did not fire
Filename
DSCN31088.5.jpg
File size
1.5 MB
Date taken
Sun, 25 February 2024 3:53 PM
Dimensions
4387px x 2902px

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