# Tawny Owl (*Strix aluco*)

The tawny owl (*Strix aluco*) is a bird of the family Strigidae, in the order Strigiformes.

> The tawny owl (Strix aluco) is a stocky, round-headed woodland owl of Europe and western Asia, and the owl most often heard calling at night in Britain. The famous 'twit-twoo' is really two birds: the female's sharp 'ke-wick' answered by the male's hooting 'hoo-hooo'. It hunts mice, voles and birds in the dark. It is listed as Least Concern with a stable population.

- **Category:** Bird
- **Conservation status (IUCN-style):** Least Concern
- **Range:** Woodland across Europe (not Ireland), north-west Africa and western Asia to western Siberia and Iran.
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/tawny-owl/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Scientific classification

- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Aves
- **Order:** Strigiformes
- **Family:** Strigidae
- **Genus:** Strix

## Facts at a glance

| Attribute | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Strix aluco |
| Diet | Small mammals, birds, frogs, earthworms and beetles |
| Habitat | Deciduous and mixed woodland, parks and large gardens |
| Weight | Average about 470 g |
| Lifespan | Typically 4 years; oldest ringed bird 23 years 5 months |
| Range | Western Eurasia and north-west Africa |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN Red List, assessed 2024) |

## Twit-twoo explained

The classic 'twit-twoo' is a duet. The female gives a sharp 'ke-wick' contact call and the male answers with a long, wavering 'hoo... hoo-hoo-hoooo'. Calls are most frequent in autumn, when young birds look for territories, and in late winter before breeding.

## Identification

Tawny owls are medium-sized and chunky, with a big round head, no ear tufts and large, dark eyes. Plumage varies from rufous-brown to grey-brown, streaked and mottled for camouflage against tree bark. They are strictly nocturnal and roost by day in tree holes or dense ivy.

## Staying put

Pairs hold the same territory for life and rarely move far. Young birds must find a vacant territory in their first autumn, and many starve if they fail. BTO ringing data give a typical life expectancy of 4 years, but the oldest ringed bird lived 23 years and 5 months.

## Status

BirdLife International lists the tawny owl as Least Concern (2024), with 1.58 to 2.34 million mature birds and a stable trend. In Britain, monitoring suggests it has declined in recent decades, and it is absent from Ireland.

## Frequently asked questions

### Do tawny owls really say 'twit-twoo'?

Not a single bird. The female calls 'ke-wick' and the male replies 'hoo-hooo', and together the two calls sound like 'twit-twoo'.

### Are there tawny owls in Ireland?

No. The tawny owl does not occur in Ireland; the long-eared owl is the commonest owl there.

### What do tawny owls eat?

Mainly wood mice, voles and shrews, plus small birds, frogs, earthworms and beetles.

### How long do tawny owls live?

Typically about 4 years once they reach breeding age, but the oldest ringed tawny owl lived 23 years and 5 months.

## Sources

- [BirdLife International (2026). Species factsheet: Tawny Owl Strix aluco. BirdLife DataZone. Checked 1 November 2026.](https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/tawny-owl-strix-aluco)
- [Animal Diversity Web: Strix aluco. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.](https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Strix_aluco/)
- [BTO BirdFacts: Tawny Owl. British Trust for Ornithology.](https://www.bto.org/learn/about-birds/birdfacts/tawny-owl)
- Tobias, J. A. et al. (2022). AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. doi:10.1111/ele.13898
- [Gill, F., Donsker, D. & Rasmussen, P. (Eds). IOC World Bird List v15.2.](https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/)

## Help protect the Tawny Owl

Even familiar animals lose ground as wild habitat keeps shrinking worldwide.

[Donate to wildlife protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/donate/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/tawny-owl/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.