Small or Barn Owls

Most young owls make the hissing noise.
Barn owls are quite striking to look at - they are the palest (apart from the snowy owl).
We do not have a 'small' owl in the UK. There is a 'little' owl but that is a third of the size of a barn owl, much darker and more delicate in structure and its the only one happy to be about in daylight.

Barn owl chicks certainly hiss; don't know about little owls. Little owl adults have a very mellow sort of hoot. I saw one once in Dorset sitting on a road sign, but that's the closest I've come, although we do have them on the high moors on the outskirts of Sheffield. They live on worms and beetles and nest in holes in dry stone walls, rabbit burrows and anywhere there's a likely looking hole really. Owls are wonderful - almost completely silent hunters compared to other predatory birds. Hope you manage to identify your owl. Keep us informed!

We had barn owls in the attic when we moved into our house. They hissed, snored and made a noise like the spin cycle of the washing machine. They thumped down on the floor above our heads throughout the night with food for the chicks who flapped and squeaked and mewed.
We were very pleased when they moved out in the autumn. The smell lasted for five years.
Before we moved in, one got in upstairs when the builders were here. It crapped all over the new oak floors and we found it posing on the new sanitary ware. We opened all the windows and it went. One used to come back and perch on the window ledge and screech at us for a couple of years.
We have two barns but they clearly were not good enough for the white lady (as the French say).
Lovely birds but you really don't want them as neighbours.

Sh-sh-shudder!!!

We got up one morning at DS's Mil's house in York and found a Little Owl in the hall. We think it came down the chimney. We escorted it out and it flew away quite happily.

We have twice had tawny owls come down the kitchen chimney of our house in France. Each time, fortunately, we were there and were able to rescue them. One got stuck on the flexible hosing of the cooker hood.

We got our roofer in to put some mesh over the aperture to stop it happening again.

In France the owls nest in the house wall. There are three holes above the front door, we think meant for doves or pigeons but the owls have been in residence for at least 20 years. We haven't had any problems with smell, but as Mamie says, they can be noisy, especially when the fledglings are starting to fly. One night we had to move into a different bedroom because of the noise.

It does seem that we probably have Barn Owls, apparently they are quite common here in Cyprus as are Small owls, I have a feeling that the one that came into the house may have been a youngster, as when we tried to take a photo it hide behind the Oxford Dictionary ( obviously brushing up on its knowledge base!!!!).
DH and I did see one hunting last evening in the light of the street light, so will keep our eyes out again tonight as there is no evidence of them during the day.
We live way up in the mountains and are surrounded by olive groves and pine trees and there are a lot of lizards and small mammals around for them to feed on, although this is the first year we have seen them.
It is better than Spring Watch

I like the Little Owl - they always look furious about something!

How wonderful Pippa, very envious.
We had little owls at the farm and I loved watching them. One morning one was sitting on the telegraph pole in the middle of the yard and when we stood watching it from under the pole it got crosser and crosser until it was literally bobbing up and down with fury, shouting it's head off at us. The young used to line up along the tiled roof outside out bedroom window and, believe me, they are noisy!
As feetlebaum says, they always have a decidedly grumpy visage, utterly delightful birds.

We hear Tawny owls here but never see them.

We are surrounded by Tawny Owls...the ones that go 'tewitt' and then the other one answers 'tewoo'.....we love them but when they are right next to the house it can get quite loud.

Adult Barn owls 'screeeeetch'...its a very eerie sound.

My beloved late step-father built and installed an owl box in one of the bards. He got an old tea chest, mixed some cement and used it to line the box in an irregular way. Then took 3 of us hoisting to get it into position!

Worked though, it wasn't long before it was occupied. The barn in question was the one where I kept my sheep in overnight at lambing time.

I loved doing the late shift, sitting quietly on a bale, watching my girls, looking for signs of lambing, listening to the contented breathing and belching (buggers for that, sheep!) and seeing the resident barn owl come in, perch on a beam and watching me watching him/her.

Happy, happy days, miss them.

We regularly heard tawny owls calling to each other where we lived before. They would come up out of the woods to hunt around the gardens, and you could see them in silhouette as they perched on the local television ariels. In the late seventies we lived next to a disused airfield in Essex and it was not unusual to see barn owls hunting during the day along the edges of the old runways. I never knew until then that barn owls flew in the daytime - I always thought they were nocturnal.

Barnes not bards! Not sure if installing a large and heavy tea chest would have been warmly received by Shakespeare, let alone any of the others!

Am now wondering what position would have to be adopted............

I dread to think phoenix

Elf & safety would have a fit!

Watching and listening for Wol (named after the very bad spelling owl in Winne the Pooh) is now becoming a night time obsession, sad that I am. It gets dark here in Cyprus about 8pm and he/she was on next doors chimney about 10pm last night and made a stunning picture as he/she flew off to hunt.

We were up late once waiting for some friends to arrive and counted twenty-three barn owls circling the house. They come and go though, haven't heard any for a while this year.

Owl, a wise bird in many ways, able to read and write his own name, Wol...

Perhaps sitting amongst the dictionaries Wol may have gained greater knowledge.

There was a little owl nesting in a tree above a badger sett I used to go and watch at dusk- and he used to bob up and down, up and down, all the time I was there - but then he got used to me.

Once I was taking my 'old ladies' on one of our jollies, and driving down to wonderful medieval Abbey on the Rutland border, my eye caught something. I reversed back and there, by a hole between the roots of a large oak tree- were 3 baby little owls- fully feathered to probably about to fledge. Really made our day. Went back with DH the next day with his camera- and nothing- they had gone!

One night we went for a pub meal in South Croxton, and on our return we could not believe our eyes- there was a little owl on every single fence post for about 1 mile- never ever seen more than on at a time (apart from the babies above). We went home to get the camera and returned- gone, all gone. But photos or no photos the memory is etched in our hearts.

BTW that was at Launde Abbey- a wonderful lost valley on East Leics/Rutland border- wonderful place.

Guess what our 'family' has grown to at least three owls. DH went to the loo during the night and on his way back looked out of the spare bedroom window to see three owls take of from their perch which is the neighbours chimney ( neighbours use their house for the odd weekend only) I wonder how many more we will see. So exciting!!!!