Striped Owl Facts

A medium-sized owl with distinctive ear tufts. The Striped Owl has often been placed in a genus of its own as a unique classification. They nest on the ground like Short Eared Owls but their ears and hunting style is more in keeping with that of the Long Eared Owl. Current thinking believes it could be related to the Long Eared Owls but further studies are required about this little known owl.

Our Striped Owl was hatched in 2012 and is one of the very few of this species on display in the UK. When we read all of the available details about this species nothing prepared us for his “ministry of funny walks”! For his size, he has enormous feet. To walk about he uses the care of a scuba diver who has just left the sea and is walking up the beach still wearing his flippers! Worth watching out for.

They eat small mammals, large insects and a few reptiles and small birds. Mammals such as spiny pocket mice, rice rats and Cayenne spiny rats and rat-tailed opossums are mainly caught at night. Bon appetite!