It was Charles Waterton, a West Riding man, who first introduced little owls to this country. Waterton, an eccentric squire, converted his Wakefield estate into a nature reserve and lived at Walton Hall, which stands on an island. In 1842, Waterton brought five little owls back from Italy but a Yorkshire winter proved too much for birds that hatched out in a much warmer clime. Dutch birds, introduced later in the century, were resilient. Soon, little owls were being recorded in Yorkshire.
Nothing goes amiss to a hungry little owl.
It gobbles down beetles and earthworms, does not turn up its beak at moths, and when especially hungry or having young to feed, will dine on larger birds such as pigeons and also young rabbits. Though small, it has a fearsome disposition and talons that exert a vice-like grip on prey. It meets its match when moving into the territory of a pair of tawny owls which soon remove the opposition by taking the young birds. A little owl perched like a feathered totem is only marginally less appealing than the sight that greeted me of two young sitting cheek by jowl on a fencing post, their large and brilliant eyes staring at me intently. This long-winged bird, unlike most owls, is a daytime hunter, gliding on long wings.