Confused owl leaves perfect imprint on glass after slamming into window

A wayward owl which flew into a window stunned two homeowners when it left this bizarre near-perfect imprint of itself on the glass.

Peter Baxter and his wife Jane heard an almighty thud upstairs at their home in Stourbridge, West Mids, and discovered that a nearby bird had really made an impression on their bedroom window.

The unfortunate owl had become confused and slammed straight into the glass after seeing the reflection of trees in the window.

And as this picture shows, the impression of the nocturnal bird’s eyes, beak and open wings were splayed across the window afterwards.

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Retired bank manager Jane, 55, said: "It was too loud to be fireworks or anything like that so we rushed upstairs to have a look.

"I couldn’t believe it when we went into the bedroom and saw the imprint of the owl across the window.

"It was so bright and white, it looked just like a ghost. You can make out the eyes and beak and the feathers at the end of the wings.

"I opened the window and looked for the owl but couldn’t see anything so hopefully it flew away and was fine."

The ghostly silhouette was left by the owl's ‘powder down’ - a substance protecting growing feathers that stay with the birds throughout their lives.

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Fen Gerry, from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said: "It is uncommon, but sadly on occasion the wise owl can get dazzled by our windows.

"Owls can fly into windows because the reflections confuse them. Some birds see the reflection of trees and the sky and don’t realise it is glass.

"You can fix something to the outside of your windows to stop birds from flying into them."