1. A female owl is normally around 25% larger than her male counterpart. One theory behind the size discrepancy is that the males are more agile in order to efficiently catch their prey. The lightest species of owl is the Elf Owl. Around six inches tall when fully grown, it is the size of a sparrow and weighs less than a golf ball! The largest owl in the world is the Eurasian Eagle-Owl, with females growing to a length of around 75cm. It has distinctive tufts of feathers on its head, which are often mistaken for ears.

2. In English folklore, owls have long been considered a harbinger of doom. An owl flying past a window, or heard overhead, was thought to warn of an impending death in the household. In ‘Macbeth’, Shakespeare calls the owl the ‘fatal bellman’, because bells were often rung to announce an execution.