Trained owls for film and television
Who supplies trained owls for film and television?
Barn owls and tawny owls, raised from hatching and flown free, for broadcast, drama and commercials.
Lloyd and Rose Buck supply trained owls for film and television in the UK and internationally. We fly barn owls Lily and Pete, and tawny owl Hector. Every one was hand-raised and imprinted from hatching and lives with us. Lloyd or Rose attends every shoot and flies the birds personally — we are not an agency, and no bird is hired in.
The owls
Lily, Pete and Hector
Lily and Pete are barn owls. Silent flight, low light, slow-motion work and quartering over open ground are what barn owls are for, and studio work suits them well. Lily was filmed hatching for a documentary, so she is about as experienced as an owl can be when it comes to a camera.
Hector is a tawny owl — a gentle bird who can be flown day or night in our small woodland. He has flown many sequences over the last six years.
An owl on a glove gives you a static frame and a handful of angles. An owl that flies free and comes back willingly gives a director entrances, exits, sustained flight beside a tracking camera, and the option to go again.
What owls are good for
The work owls do best
Silent flight
A barn owl flies almost without sound. Comb-like leading edges, velvety surfaces and a fringed trailing edge break up the air that would otherwise make noise. It is a sequence that needs a trained bird, because it cannot be staged with a wild one.
Low light and night
Owls work at the end of the day and after dark. Hector can be flown day or night. This is where most productions give up and reach for CGI.
Slow motion
Owl flight at a high frame rate is one of the most requested shots there is, and one of the hardest to get from a wild bird against a schedule.
Studio and green screen
Controlled interiors, studio lighting and clean plates for a VFX team.
Flying to a mark
To a perch, a post, a hidden sound source, a presenter’s glove, or past a lens on a set line — repeatably.
Drama and actors
Birds that will work close to actors and crew they have not met, and repeat a performance to a director’s note.
Proof of the point
Owl Power
For BBC Natural World: Super Powered Owls — shown in the United States as Owl Power on PBS Nova — a barn owl was flown over a bed of hidden microphones to measure how much noise she made in flight. A pigeon and a falcon flew the same line first. The owl barely registered.
That is an experiment, not a shot you can wait for. It only works with a bird that will fly the same line, at the same height, over the same rig, as many times as the sound team needs.
Track record
Owl credits
- BBC Natural World — Super Powered Owls
- PBS America — Owl Power
- BBC — Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday card delivery short
- Sky 1 and Sky 3D — Sir David Attenborough, Conquest of the Skies
- BBC One — Life in the Air
- BBC — Springwatch and Autumnwatch, 2008–2016
Our birds have appeared in over a hundred productions.
Common questions
Frequently asked
Who supplies trained owls for film and television?
Lloyd and Rose Buck supply trained owls for film and television across the UK and internationally. They fly barn owls Lily and Pete and tawny owl Hector, all hand-raised and imprinted from hatching. Lloyd or Rose attends every shoot and flies the birds personally.
What species of owl can you supply?
Barn owl and tawny owl. Barn owls suit silent flight, low light, slow motion and quartering over open ground. The tawny owl can be flown day or night.
Can an owl be filmed flying silently?
Yes, and it is one of the sequences owls are most often booked for. A barn owl’s comb-like leading edge, velvety surface and fringed trailing edge break up the air that would otherwise make noise. Capturing it needs a trained bird that will fly the same line repeatedly for the sound team.
Can you film owls at night?
Yes. Hector, our tawny owl, can be flown day or night in our woodland, and our barn owls are regularly filmed in low light and after dark.
Are the owls free-flying or on a glove?
Free-flying. A gloved or tethered owl gives a static frame and a narrow range of angles. Our owls fly to a mark, past a lens, or alongside a moving camera, and return willingly, so a sequence can be repeated across takes.
Do you work with owls in a studio?
Yes. Barn owls work well under studio lighting and in controlled interiors, including clean plates for visual effects.
Where are you based?
Near Bristol in the south west of England, working across the UK and internationally.
Get in touch
Contact
Lloyd Buck
Agent
Jo Sarsby Personal Management
josarsby.com
Where we are
Near Bristol, south west England.
Working across the UK and internationally.
Talk to us about an owl sequence
Tell us what you are trying to film and we will tell you honestly whether it is possible, and how.