Any bird that eats other birds or animals is considered to be a 'bird of prey'. The term bird of prey is normally only applied to two groups, the first consisting of Vultures, Eagles, Hawks and Falcons. This group eats during the day.
The second group are known as 'nocturnal', which means that they sleep during the day and are awake at night, which is when they hunt. This group consists mostly of owls, which include the Tawny owl, Barn owl, Little owl, Long eared owl and the Snowy owl.
There are 421 species of birds of prey, 133 of them are owls. Birds of prey are one of the most threatened groups of birds. In the last 20 or 30 years the cutting down of forest and jungle, even small woodlands have destroyed their habitat.
Some birds of preys are looked at in more detail below.