We're having a hoot: Burrowing owls get ready to meet the public in new Staffordshire home

The parliament of owls are being temporarily housed at South Staffordshire College's Rodbaston Campus in Penkridge.

It is part of wider plans to create a new World Owl Centre somewhere in the West Midlands where the owls will be permanently based.

Bird owners The World Owl Trust is the world leader in owl conservation and is relocating to the region from its present home at Muncaster Castle, in Cumbria.

Six female burrowing owls and one male are the first to arrive at the Animal Zone at Rodbaston from the Lake District. Work has been carried out to create new aviaries for the feathered guests – with a total of 100 heading Rodbaston's way.

The owls will all be moved, along with another 100 owls, to their new permanent home some time next year – possibly Himley Hall in Dudley.

World Owl Trust board member and volunteer Alan Peace said: "The trust is in advanced negotiations for a lease from Dudley Council to take over the old walled garden at Himley Hall.

"It is not cut and dried as yet and we still have a way to go with this matter. If it goes ahead then it will take at least a year to build the permanent aviaries and get the site developed. It is probably the best collection of owls in the country. The trust is the only organisation devoted exclusively to the conservation of owls and is going to be establishing a new World Owl Centre in the West Midlands."

The other 100 owls will be put up at centres across the country until a permanent home is found for the 50 species that are looked after by the trust that was set up 27 years ago.

The temporary display at Rodbaston will be officially opened by a celebrity conservationist on the weekend of May 2.

Burrowing owls are among the smallest of the owl species and originate from North and South America. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are non-nocturnal.