There are five species of owl in the UK: Barn Owl, Tawny Owl, Little Owl, Long-eared Owl and Short-eared Owl (in the picture above). They are birds of prey, with sharp beaks and strong talons for catching small animals to eat.

Owls have a flat, round face. This is formed of a pattern of feathers called the facial disc. They make a dish shape to direct sounds to the owl’s sensitive ears, helping them to hear their prey. This is particularly useful as most owls are nocturnal (active at night) or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk when light levels are low). Being able to hear their prey accurately is really important when it’s too dark to see it.

Here are some activities inspired by owls.

Owl Mask

Download our Owl Mask outline and print on paper or thin card.

Colour or collage the feathers onto your mask. Follow the solid lines to cut the mask out – you might need some help cutting out the eye holes. Then get a grown up to help you make a small hole on each side to thread through some string, yard or elastic to hold your mask on. Don’t want to tie you mask on? You could also stick a lollipop stick or something similar on one side to hold it up to your face.

We’d love to see your masks! Share them with us on twitter and you might make our weekly roundup post on Fridays!

Owl Colouring-in

Download our Tawny Owl colouring page, print off and colour in.

Owl Puzzle

Flex your owl knowledge with this crossword puzzle. Download, fill in all the clues then read down the grey boxes for the name of the most common species of owl found in the UK.