AN AWOL owl has been recaptured after being discovered on the roof of a house in Witham.

The impressive Indian eagle owl was spotted by eagle-eyed photographer Naz Bhuiya, whose wife snapped a picture of it.

“It was there for about 18 or 20 hours,” said Naz. “He just wanted to be left alone, but I saw a lot of magpies and seagulls bothering him.”

He tried calling the RSPB and RSPCA but said no-one could help.

But after putting a photo of the owl on social media, it came to the attention of the Independent Bird Register – a Manchester-based charity which catalogues missing birds and reunites them with their owners.

An IBR contact in the Witham area managed to track down the emaciated bird and catch it.

Barbara Royle, who runs the IBR, said: “It’s an Indian eagle owl and we think it’s a male.

“He was very thin when he was found. That’s why it was relatively easy to get.

“People have been asking whether it’s definitely the same one, but as far as I am aware there was only one bird in Witham.”

Indian eagle owls are not found in the wild in the UK, but are sometimes kept in captivity.

They have a wingspan of up to 5ft.

The mystery owl had no tags or identifying marks.

Barbara suspect it had been released into the wild deliberately because it had anklets on but no identifying ring number attached.

Barbara said: “If the bird can’t be returned to its owner it will be re-homed.

“With a bird like that which hasn’t got paperwork it’s easier to re-home them, but European birds are more difficult.

“I have a gut feeling it’s been released on purpose.”

She added: “The IBR is the only register in the country that helps people get owls and birds of prey back to their owners.

“To date we’ve reunited over 8,000 birds.”

Steve Younge, owner of Lavenham Falconry near Ipswich, said: “Looking at the equipment that’s on its legs, it is possibly a trained owl.

“As it’s sitting around houses, it obviously isn’t scared of people.”