Asio otus
The Long-Eared Owl, Asio otus, is one of the more distinctive raptors to appear in the Taylor White Collection, its long, upright ear tufts and piercing orange eyes lending it an unmistakable, almost feline expression. This 18th Century watercolour was painted by Charles Collins on 5th April 1740, capturing the species with the close observational detail characteristic of his natural history work.
Description of the Long-Eared Owl
Also known historically as the Northern Long-Eared Owl or, more evocatively, the Cat Owl, this medium-sized owl has one of the widest distributions of any owl species, found across North America, Europe, North Africa and Central Asia. It favours partially open habitats, particularly woodland edges bordering fields or heathland, where dense tree cover offers daytime roosting and concealment while adjacent open ground provides productive hunting territory.
About The Long-Eared Owl
Rather than building its own nest, the Long-Eared Owl typically takes over the abandoned nests of other birds, most often crows, magpies or birds of prey, adapting an existing structure to its own needs. Its diet consists predominantly of small rodents, with voles forming the bulk of its intake, though it will turn to small birds and insects when rodent numbers decline.
This watercolour forms part of the Taylor White Collection, a body of 18th Century natural history illustrations with provenance to McGill University Library, prized today for the scientific precision and quiet elegance that artists such as Charles Collins brought to their subjects.
c.1680 - 1744
Charles Collins (c.1680-1744) was a painter of birds, mammals and still life, born in Dublin and trained in Ireland before establishing himself in London. He built his early reputation on still-life subjects, including a series of fruit studies for Robert Furber's Twelve Months of Fruit (1732), before turning increasingly to natural history illustration. From 1736, Collins worked alongside Peter Paillou to produce watercolours of British birds and mammals for the naturalist and collector Taylor White, contributing over 200 signed works to White's collection. His animal studies are noted for their lifelike composition, typically set against a grassy mound or tree stump rather than a plain background, and for the accuracy with which plumage and colouring were recorded from live or preserved specimens. Collins died in London in 1744, described at the time as Bird Painter to the Royal Society.
Credit: Taylor White Collection, Rare Books & Special Collections, McGill University Library.