Europe, Central & Eastern Asia, North Africa & the Middle East.

Open country but avoiding dense woodland.
Preferred nest sites are holes in trees, walls and the ground – including rabbit holes.
Little owls can start breeding when only a year old. A single clutch can contain as many as 6 eggs which take about 4 weeks to hatch. The young leave the nest at 21 days and are fully fledged at 5 weeks but the parents continue to feed them for a further month.

Bilbo was just three weeks old when we collected him at ten-o-clock on a Sunday morning. By two-o-clock that same afternoon he made his first public appearance in a demonstration at the Suffolk Owl Sanctuary.

A three week old Little Owl has an incredibly high 'Ahhhh!' factor!

Three days later he got a rousing cheer at the Suffolk Show for walking a whole 5ft to Clive and later in the afternoon he mugged one of the Stewards.

Bilbo only stands about 4" tall and, at times, is almost totally spherical. He can manage to look fierce and cute at the same time and is a particular favourite with children.

We are currently looking for an understudy for Bilbo so that he can retire during 2005.

We make no apologies for including lots of pictures of Bilbo - he's just a little sweetheart!