The unknowable magic of owls

A long-eared owl roused from its slumbers. Photograph: Mark Cocker What is it about owls that’s so captivating? I’m sure one part of the allure is that array of night noises which passes for owl communication. Frequently we have barn owls land on our bedroom roof, where they delight in waking us with a coarse, breathy hiss that sounds like something concocted for a zombie out the crypt in an old Hammer Horror film.