A nocturnal hunter hooting in the spring night
The tawny owl’s habitat consists of herb-rich forests near fields, pastures and coastal meadows. It requires deep hollows for nesting. Thanks to its old oaks, Ruissalo is excellent habitat for tawny owls, and the island indeed boasts an especially dense tawny owl population.
The tawny owl is nocturnal and usually spends the day napping on a spruce branch or in a tree hollow. The males’ quavering mating calls and the females’ meowing responses can be heard on calm late winter evenings and early in the spring. However, tawny owls are, in fact, vocal all year round, as is the case with many other owl species as well. The tawny owl’s diet consists primarily of small rodents, but they will eat frogs and small birds, too.
The tawny owl is a southern species, with Finland being at the very northern edge of its distribution range. In fact, the tawny owl first nested in Finland just over a hundred years ago – right here in Turku. Nowadays the Finnish population consist of over 1,000 pairs and has spread inland up to the Lappeenranta–Vaasa axis. Being a sedentary bird, the tawny owl suffers during harsh winters. In the absence of large natural hollows, many tawny owls have built nests in large owl boxes.
