Having had a passion for Owls since I was a boy, it was only a matter of time (and the right amount of land) before I began keeping them. Initially, I learned a great deal from knowledgeable friends who's support continues. It wasn't long, however, before some of the well-meaning advice from one friend was being contradicted by another and occasionally I needed to consult a more expert source altogether.
I had already come across this author's name and a book with the title "Understanding Owls" seemed exactly what I needed. What a pity that the one message which comes across from this book - Loud and Clear, is that the Owl is not Miss Parry-Jones' favourite bird. In fact, I don't think she likes them at all. Having read the book and certain sections more than once, I am left thinking perhaps it is the author who needs to learn a little "understanding."
Commencing with a short section on taxonomy and where the Owl fits in to the overall scheme of things, we then find coverage of such subjects as biology, distribution/habitat, diet, feeding, reproduction, survival and status before coming on to the all-important topic of keeping them. It is here that the author tries to deter the would-be keeper by commencing with the subject of "Problems" and immediately exaggerates the noise owls create. After a page on "Giving a Home to Wild Disabled Birds" she summarises what she has written so far with the words "So what have we got? Owls are noisy, and generally not much fun just to watch in a pen; that leaves us with owls for breeding and flying." (Incidentally, the errors in punctuation and grammar are not mine).
So far, her own down-beat attitude towards these magnificent birds makes you wonder why she bothers keeping them at all. Furthermore, you could be forgiven for thinking she was being forced to write this book against her will.
All that said, those first 40 pages then prove to be nothing more than a rather poor introduction to what now becomes a fairly useful book. Whilst still encountering the anti-owl sentiment here and there, we are now treated to the well described and illustrated subjects of; Housing, breeding, management, incubation, rearing, training and hunting.
Sadly, just as we were beginning to smile, the author returns to a very down-beat message at the end under the heading "Hunting." The message here has nothing whatsoever to do with hunting or even what is involved, just a couple of anecdotes about problems experienced by other people coupled with the author's wish to put off the reader at all costs. A bit like "I've started (in this way) - so I'll finish (in this way)." Which is altogether a great pity because this book could have been so much better.
NM
