Eagle Owl spotted in Sunderland

[Greenmillie64]

An eagle owl has been reported around ******* in Sunderland. I am on touch with a journalist from the BBC who wishes to run a story on this. The owl is allegedly attacking people. Does anyone know any birders in the Sunderland area who could confirm / help/ advise?

[Twitcheruth]

Originally Posted by Greenmillie64

An eagle owl has been reported around the flats in Bolden in Sunderland. I am on touch with a journalist from the BBC who wishes to run a story on this. The owl is allegedly attacking people. Does anyone know any birders in the Sunderland area who could confirm / help/ advise?

How bizzarre.......do keep us informed if you get any more info on this Millie......oh and a very Happy Birthday to you!

[aquila 1]

Hi Millie, Eagle owls breed not that far from where you have seen that one, there used to be a pair breeding at catterick, until they did a programme on them, when someone must have realised where they were and went and shot them, but they had raised 21 chicks over the years, we believe one of them has turned up just down the road, at a well known base. regards please be very careful how it is put over by the media. mac

[Greenmillie64]

I will keep you updated- maybe it is related to the catterick family then?

[dales birder]

Or it could be an escapee,there are some birds in private ownership.One in our area shows up on occasions and is suspected of being a "tame" bird as it has been known to follow people for food.There was a pair in Bowland that attacked people and pets and the local council closed the path on safety grounds.

[Biffo55]

An Eagle Owl ! I thought I was lucky seeing a Barn Owl round my way.

[RoyW__]

I would agree with Mac (though I suspect for different reasons), I would be very wary of journalists in a situation like this - it wouldn't surprise me if the resulting 'story' wasn't something about how "dangerous" this bird could potentially be to people and their pets, with many members of the public then perhaps thinking that all owls and raptors were a similar danger.

Based on the information that you have supplied I would be extremely surprised if this Eagle Owl hasn't recently escaped from captivity, the suggestion that it is close to human habitation, and approaching humans (most likely because it is hungry and used to humans feeding it) strongly suggest this.
In my opinion all Eagle Owls in the UK are escapes from captivity, or the result of breeding by owls that have escaped - I see no good reason to believe otherwise (and no good reason to try and protect a population that has originated from escaped birds). The one described in the opening post should almost certainly be recaptured for its own well being.

[aquila 1]

possible not Roy?? I was very skeptical re Eagle owls, and know for a fact that so called falconers, were getting fed up of the ones in their charge, and simply released them, on one accation we did manage to catch one such person and took him to court, I myself managed to catch three birds over a twelve month period, and managed to get them rehomed.
But the pair I mentioned at Catterick we do know the female was from a wild origin, the male we were never sure, but they had been there for over twelve years doing no harm to anything or anyone,and under the protection of the army. untill a certain person came down from scotland and did a feature on the birds, the rest is history, I know I have said this on many occasions and I am not going to get into another argument, but some of the purists keep saying these birds should not be realesed into our countryside, then in the next breath they are bringing kites over from belgum, and white tailed sea eagles from norway, which is a contradiction in itself, as these are not british birds, same species, but not british. have a good day. Mac

[Greenmillie64]

Im spoke to my contact at the BBC and it would seem that the Eagle Owl actually only had a go at one person. It is though active in Sunderland. I will PM you with any updates.

[RoyW__]

Originally Posted by aquila 1

But the pair I mentioned at Catterick we do know the female was from a wild origin, the male we were never sure, but they had been there for over twelve years doing no harm to anything or anyone

It's widely documented that the original female of this pair initially wore the remains of jesses, which were later lost, so was undoubtably an escaped individual. This female was later replaced by another which wore a ring (captive birds should be closed ringed). There is not a single example of an Eagle Owl in the UK that is known to have originated from a wild source, but an average of 9 registered Eagle Owls are reported as having escaped each year (+ an unknown number of unregistered individuals).
There is probably a very valid argument that even as an introduced species they may not do any real harm because they are a European species, much like Little Owls, but that's a different discussion from origins.

Anyway, this is off topic I guess. Good luck with any involvement that you have with the media Greenmillie.