The little owl was introduced into this country at the end of the 1800s and is now a fairly common bird in most of Oxfordshire. Its presence is often given away by the habit it has of using prominent perching sites such as the tops of telegraph poles or buildings, these are usually within the birds breeding area.

I think the best way to describe its posturing is “ jaunty “ with sometimes much bobbing up and down although identification should not be a problem due to its small size, distinctive streaked breast and rather spotted appearance of the back and wings.

The facial features of white eyebrows and under chin area are mirrored on the reverse of the head.

The nest is mostly in hollow trees, willow being a favourite, with buildings used occasionally and I remember a pair that nested for several seasons in a rabbit burrow in view of my dining room window, they used an adjacent shed as a perch and after much bobbing up and down would take off with the characteristic bounding flight they employ. Three to five eggs are laid towards the end of April with the female taking on the incubation duties that take from twenty six to twenty eight days.

This is another bird along with buzzard, red kite and sparrowhawk that has fallen foul of the over reaction stemming from the ignorance of mankind and consequently mercilessly persecuted as a major killer of young game birds.

A scientific study undertaken by the British Trust for Ornithology proved conclusively that small rodents, insects and worms make up the vast majority of their diet and young game birds are an insignificant part of the bird’s diet.

They will hunt during both the day and the night although dusk and dawn is when they are most active.

Their voice is variously described as kee-ew, ku-kee or kiu, but most certainly it does not hoot.