the little owl

Athena, the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, female arts, crafts, justice and skill is often accompanied by a Little Owl (Athene noctua).

This little guy was so popular he made it onto the Athenian currency, the silver tetradrachm, in 2 BC.

Alas, I have not heard of Athena having a Leopard companion.

Approximate numbers, which vary considerably from year to year:

Barn Owl - Tyto Alba - 4000 pairs in the UK

Little Owl - Athene noctua - 6000 to 12000 pairs in Britain

Tawny Owl - Strix aluco - 20 000 pairs in Britain

Long-Eared Owl - Asio otus - 1500 to 5000 pairs in the UK

Short-Eared Owl - Asio flammeus - 1000 to 3500 pairs in Britain.

'The white owl watches' - 'niveus owl vigilo' (though this literally translates as 'white owl to be awake'

The owl's name was found to be Nyctimene there is another one as well. two total. one for Athena the greek god and one for minevera the roman god. They also found that the owl just stood for wisdom it wasn't actually a real character.