'Oldest owl' may have been replaced

Two years ago the Forestry Commission revealed that Boudica, a 21-year-old female who had just given birth to three chicks, would become the oldest known UK tawny owl living in the wild if she survived for a few more months.

It is believed she passed that milestone, judging by evidence found in her nesting box in Kershope, Cumbria, but she then vanished before she could be caught again to establish proof.

But now experts have found a 20-year-old tawny female near Kielder Castle Visitor Centre, in Northumberland's Kielder Forest, with four chicks.

Brian Little, one of the leaders of the long running Kielder tawny owls project, said the bird had reached almost twice the average life expectancy of females in the wild.