Chapter 19 of 23
Owl ID and Sounds
Telling Britain's owls apart by sight and by ear
About 5 minute read
Many people do not know which owl is which, and most of us hear owls far more often than we see them. A hoot in the woods, a screech across a field, a squeaky whistle from a hedge: each one belongs to a different bird. This chapter helps you tell Britain's five regular owls apart, first by how they look and then by how they sound.
Of the five, you have already met two well. The Barn Owl is the pale, silent hunter of rough grass, and the Tawny Owl is the brown owl of the woods that gives the famous hoot. The other three are the Little Owl, the Long eared Owl and the Short eared Owl, and they are much less familiar to most people.
Five owls at a glance
| Owl | How to spot it | Where and when | What it sounds like |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barn Owl (about 33 to 39 cm) | Very pale, almost white underneath, with a golden buff back and a heart shaped white face. Dark eyes. Long legs. | Farmland and rough grass, hunting low at dusk and through the night, sometimes by day. Roosts in barns and old buildings. | A long, shivery screech. Also hisses and snoring. It never hoots. |
| Tawny Owl (about 37 to 43 cm) | Chunky and brown, streaky underneath, with a big round head, a round face and big dark eyes. No ear tufts. | Woodland, parks and large gardens. Mostly at night. By day, roosts against a trunk or in ivy. | The male gives a long hoot with a quavering follow up. The female gives a sharp kewick. Together they make the famous twit twoo. |
| Little Owl (about 22 cm) | Small and stocky, with a flat topped head and bright yellow eyes that give it a frowning look. Brown, spotted with white. | Farmland, orchards, old parkland and stone walls. Often seen by day on posts, walls and branches. Introduced to Britain in the 1800s. | A sharp, plaintive kiew note, and other short, barking calls. |
| Long eared Owl (about 35 to 37 cm) | Slim and upright, with long ear tufts and bright orange eyes. Streaky orange brown. Very secretive. | Woods, conifer plantations and thick scrub. Roosts in dense cover by day. Often nests in old crow nests. | A soft, low, repeated hoot. Young birds make a squeaky call like a creaking gate. |
| Short eared Owl (about 34 to 42 cm) | Long winged and streaky, with yellow eyes ringed with dark feathers, a pale face and short ear tufts that are rarely seen. | Open moor, rough grass and coast. Hunts by day as well as at dusk. Many arrive from northern Europe in winter. Nests on the ground. | A deep, hollow hooting in display flights, along with a harsh bark and wing claps. |
Three quick questions to ask yourself
If you see an owl and want to name it, ask three questions.
- Is it white and pale? That is almost certainly a Barn Owl. A Short eared Owl can look pale from a distance, but it has a streaky, buff body and long wings.
- Is it brown and chunky, in trees? That is very likely a Tawny Owl, which is the most numerous and widespread owl in Britain.
- Is it small, out in the day, sitting on a post or wall? That is probably a Little Owl. A Long eared Owl has orange eyes and ear tufts and stays hidden, and a Short eared Owl is a long winged bird quartering open ground.
Hearing owls
Sounds are often the easiest way to identify owls, because they do not hide their voices. Here is how to tell the main calls apart.
The screech. A Barn Owl's screech is a long, harsh, shivery scream, a little like someone hissing and gargling at once. It is nothing like a hoot. If you hear a scream across a field, it is a Barn Owl, or perhaps a Tawny Owl, since a female Tawny's kewick can also sound like a shrill scream. The difference is that a Tawny's call is short and sharp, and usually comes with a hoot nearby.
The hoot. A proper hoot comes from a Tawny Owl, a Long eared Owl or a Short eared Owl. The Tawny's is the loudest and most musical, a long hoot, a pause, then a quavering phrase. The Long eared's is quieter and lower, and repeated. A Short eared's is a deep, hollow series of hoots, usually given in a display flight over open ground.
The duet. The famous twit twoo is not one owl. A female Tawny gives the sharp kewick, and a male answers with a hoot.
The squeaks. A squeaky, creaking call in summer, like a rusty gate, often comes from young Long eared Owls. Hungry Barn Owl owlets make rasping hisses and snores instead.
Hear them for yourself
Reading about a call is one thing, and hearing it is far better. I am building a sound page with real recordings of Barn Owls and Tawny Owls, including male and female calls, so you can listen and compare. Scan the code with your phone to go straight to it.
See it happen live. Everything in this guide plays out on our cameras.
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Free to read and share under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial NoDerivatives 4.0 licence. Last updated September 2026 · Edition 1.0 · About 5 minute read