This is not an easy question to answer. Any bird that eats other animals or insects could be called birds of prey. For instance when a Blackbird eats a worm, or a blue tit eats a caterpillar or even a heron eating a fish, all thee are predatory birds which simply means birds that prey on live creatures.

The group of birds we are concerned with are the ones most people think about when you mention birds of prey. Theses birds are called Raptors, eagles, falcons and hawks. Raptors fly and hunt by day (diurnal) and Owls that are active at night (urnal). They are two separate groups of birds and are not related to each other.

In Great Britain we have 16 types or species of diurnal (day-hunting) raptors, our largest being the white-tailed eagle, with a wing span of between 2metres and 2.4 metres. It became extinct in this country around 1916 but was re-introduced in 1976 and was bred successfully in 1985. The smallest is the Merlin with a wingspan of between 50-70cm. Sadly it is declining in numbers, and Europe's smallest raptor do not seem to have a too rosy future.

Our night hunting (urnal) birds of prey are owls, with six types or species and varying in size from the largest - the Snowy Owl, first recorded in the Shetlands in 1967and 1968, however there has been no other recording to date. Our smallest is the little owl, not a true native to the British Isles, but owes its presence here to a series of introductions during the 19th Century.

All birds of prey are predators, are designed to detect, hunt and seize a range of prey, other animals, and have special equipment for holding and tearing up food before it is swallowed.

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