PEOPLE are being asked to listen out for tawny owls as part of the biggest stock-take of Britain's birds ever to be carried out.
PEOPLE are being asked to listen out for tawny owls as part of the biggest stock-take of Britain's birds ever to be carried out.
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), based at The Nunnery, Thetford, has launched a project to count all of the country's birds during both the summer and winter months and is looking to fill gaps on the brown owl - or tawny owl as it is more commonly known.
Atlas organiser at the BTO, Dawn Balmer, said: “For a bird that lives so close to us, it is surprisingly difficult to find out just where tawny owls are and how many of them there are.
“By appealing directly for people to go out and listen for them, and, more importantly, report them to us, we will go a long way to finding this out.”
Tawny owls are native to woodland, parks and gardens and are nocturnal.
However during early winter months they are at their most vocal.
Examples of calls can be found on www.bto.org. Log onto this site to also record any calls heard.
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