Colwyn and Penrhyn

This pair of Oriental Bay Owls have just joined The Owls Trust Zoo at Bodafon. In honour of their arrival,

As these wonderful Bay Owls have finally arrived here with us at the Trust in Llandudno, we thought we would honour them with naming them after our “local bays”.

These owls are vanishingly rare in captivity and as this is a young pair we are hoping to add to their numbers one day. A vital contribution to the conservation of these extraordinary owls… so a few “candlelight dinners” coming up !

The Oriental Bay Owl is a relatively small and unusual looking owl with short, rounded wings.

This nocturnal owl can be found roosting during the day in holes and hollows in tree trunks or perched on a branch sheltered by palm leaves, usually no more than about 2 metres above the forest floor. The owl is not alert when roosting and is easily approached.

The Bay Owl feeds on small rodents, such as rats and mice, bats, birds, lizards, frogs and large insects. They hunt from a perch, flying through dense stands of young trees beneath the forest canopy to make a kill. This is made possible by their relatively short and rounded wings. They also tend to hunt near water it is believed.