Glossary

Glossary

A few useful words

About 1 minute read

Brood patch

A bare area of skin on the belly of a sitting female, which lets her warm the eggs.

Clutch

The set of eggs laid in one nest.

Crepuscular

Active at dusk and dawn.

Dispersal

The move that young birds make away from where they were born to find a place of their own.

Facial disc

The flat, heart shaped face of a Barn Owl, which gathers sound.

Fledging

The stage when a young bird becomes fully feathered and able to fly.

Gizzard

The muscular part of a bird's stomach, where a pellet is formed.

Home range

The area an animal uses through the year. Unlike a territory, it is not defended.

Incubation

Keeping eggs warm so that they develop and hatch.

Nestling

A young bird that is still in the nest.

Owlet

A young owl.

Pellet

A tidy lump of fur, bones and other indigestible remains that an owl coughs up.

Quartering

Flying back and forth over an area to search it thoroughly.

Roost

A place where a bird rests or sleeps.

Rough grassland

Thick, tussocky grass that is never mown short or heavily grazed. Ideal for voles.

Schedule 1

The list of the most strongly protected birds in the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Sedentary

Staying in one area and not migrating.

Subspecies

A regional form of a species, which differs a little in size or colour.

Talon

A sharp, curved claw used to grip and kill prey.

Vole cycle

The rise and fall of vole numbers over a few years.