Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

Freddie is a magnificent tawny owl, Strix aluco, the most widespread and numerous owl species in Britain that you may hear twitting and twooing at night. He is known as a grey phase, sporting grey tinted plumage rather than rufous tinted. 

Despite being the most common owl species in Britain, they are unfortunately on the Amber list, meaning they are of conservation concern due to their gradual decline throughout the UK. We don't quite know why they are in decline, but research is suggesting it may be down to environmental change affecting the natural population cycles of their favoured prey - the field vole. 

Freddie was bred in captivity and hatched on 23rd April 2006 by captive bred parents, and hand reared by humans from just a few days old. This hand rearing process means he is imprinted on people, essentially believing he is the same species as us. The imprinting process means he’s very relaxed with people and strongly bonded to his main handler.

Freddie spent his first years at a bird of prey centre participating in free flying during educational displays. He was rehomed to us at the age of 7 after spending a few years as an aviary bird, and was retrained to be handled and flown by people.
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Freddie lives in an outdoor aviary, but sometimes spends his nights indoors as often gets picked on by the local wild tawny owls. He has a diet of whole raw foods including birds and rodents, and flies free every day weather permitting. He is a very sweet bird, loving to spend time in the company of his handler.
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