The Scops owl (Otus scops) is a small owl species commonly found in Southern and Eastern Europe. It is a night bird, and it is rarely seen.
During the day it keeps hidden in trees or between rocks, superbly camouflaged by its beautiful shading colours. The plumage exhibit a rich shade of treebark-like spots and dashes. When alarmed, it stretches out and waves as if it was a branch. The owl has two tufts on its head. Sometimes those 'ears' are barely visible, but when in danger it puts them straight.
The bird is common near human buildings, such as villages, ruins or along roads where it hunts in the light of streetlamps. The presence of the Scops owl is noticed by its monotone call, a regularly repeated ‘tjuh ... tjuh’. In warm summer nights this sound is repeated ad nauseam. It feeds mainly of insects, such as grasshoppers, beetles, crickets, other large insects, but also worms, small mammals, tree frogs and sometimes small birds. The Scops owl breeds in hollow trees, but also in holes in walls and nest boxes. They winter in Africa. 
 
This model of the Scops owl is available as a cardboardmodel for 5 €. You can watch a video with instructions.
 
​The kit:
The model contains three templates in full colour (JPEG-files) and two pages (PDF) with instructions. The model is best printed on 120 gram paper.