The shorter darker days in November are a great time to see owls without staying up past my bedtime. The colder months also mean less foliage on trees and more visible owls! But which is the best owl? It's important to approach these things scientifically. I’ve compiled a list of owl stats and facts to definitively rank the UK’s resident owl species. Here you'll find the best owl in every possible category (spoiler: they're all the best.)

Shortest Owl 

Little Owl (Athene Noctua)

In a surprise to no-one, the shortest owl in the UK is the Little Owl. At just 21cm the Little Owl is the same height as a piece of A4 paper on its side! Little Owls like to snack on invertebrates like beetles and crane flies. They are becoming less common in the West of the UK possibly due to a reduction in their prey.

Fattest Owl

Tawny Owl (Strix aluco)

Weighing in at an impressive (for an owl) 471g the Tawny Owl out-weights all the other owls by over 100g. Easily making the Tawny Owl the UK’s heavyweight champion (of owls). Tawny Owls can be seen in broad-leaved woodland, however, you may be more likely to hear a Tawny Owl than see it. Tawny Owls are known for their distinctive 'Twit-twoo' calls. This call is two owls! The 'Twit' part of the call is made by the female and the 'twoo' is made by the male.

Spookiest 

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Barn Owls are the perfect blend of cute and creepy. They float silently through the air, landing with deadly precision on their prey. If you’ve ever been surprised by a Barn Owl screech, you know how scary they can be! With nicknames like the ‘ghost owl’ and the ‘demon owl’ the Barn Owl swoops up the spookiest owl award, no contest.

Longest ear tufts (on an owl) 

Long-eared Owl (Asio otus)

Some have said that the longest ear tuft category is unfair. But if you think about it, being the only UK owl with ear tufts makes the long-eared owl just that much more special. The Long-eared Owl is also the most secretive UK species. They are stricly nocturnal and are found in deep woodland making them much rarer to see!

UK’s Scarcest Owl 

Short-eared owl (Asio flammeus)

Sadly, most of our UK owl species are in decline. The Short-eared Owl is however, the scarcest with only 620 breeding pairs. Short-eared Owl populations have declined in the UK by 50% since 1972. Over the same period Little Owls have declined by 88%, Long-eared Owls by 18%, and Tawny Owls by 39%. Barn Owls are the only owl species in the UK with an increasing population. There are currently 4,000 breeding pairs in the UK, an increase of 223% since 1995.

Help to protect our incredible owl species by creating habitats for their prey! A garden log-pile can provide lots of insects for little owls. Keeping an old tree can protect a nesting site for a Tawny Owl. A hedgerow can provide homes for many small mammals for a Barn Owl to snack on! Even a small action for nature can have big impacts across ecosystems.