BOOK(S)-The Guardians of Ga'Hoole

The Guardians of Ga'Hoole series, by Kathryn Lasky.

They are centered around noble owls who defend the world from evil ones

Here's a summary of the first book-

Soren, a Barn Owl, was pushed out of his nest by his older brother, Kludd. Lost and alone, Soren was picked up by a patrol of St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls. There, Soren meets an Elf Owl named Gylfie. They soon discover that St. Aegolius was actually a trap, controlling their minds for something evil. Soren and Glyfie decided to escape from the canyons and travel to a legendary place called The Great Ga'Hoole Tree. Along the way, they meet Twilight (Great gray owl) and Digger (burrowing owl) . They joined Soren and Gylfie until they reached the Tree. There, the band learned great things to become true Guardians of the Tree.
(Taken from Wikipedia)

Throughout the series, readers are introduced to a number of words which are spoken by the owls:

Yoiks: Crazy.
Yeep: When an owl is so shocked by something, that their wings lock and they go into a paralyzed state. Owls who go yeep while flying drop from the sky and crash to the ground, often being killed or maimed.
Gadfeather: An owl who travels the world and has no hollow.
Spronk: Forbidden knowledge.
Sprink: A verb used to demote something, considered an extremely rude curse by owls. (ex. Sprink on you!)
Wet Pooper: A bird who does not yarp pellets like an owl (magpies, jays, finches, etc.)Owls often make jokes about these birds.
Frinking: Extremely stupid, or bad, considered a curse by owls.
Racdrops: An exclamation of dissapointment, considered a curse by owls.
Honeybeak: An owl who talks sweetly.
Flecks: Small bits of magnetic metal that can be used to cause disturbances in an owls gizzard and brain, which can have varying effects: From the owls going crazy, or to them losing navigational skills. Considered an extremely powerful weapon in the hands (or talons ) of evil creatures.
Scroom: A ghost owl, who never made it to Glamoura or Hagsmire because they did not complete something in life.
Glamoura: The owl equvilant of Heaven.
Hagsmire: The owl equivilant of Hell.
Hagsfiend: A being with mysterious powers, that resembles a scrowl. Hagsfiends are considered demons.
Scrowl: A hyrbrid of a crow and an owl, shunned upon by both crows and owls, as crows and owls are natural enemies.
Ga': Great Spirit.
Nachtmagen: The sinister magic used by Hagsfiends.
Firesight: The ability to see prophetic images in fire.
Collier: An owl who harvests coals to use for cooking, weapons, and other things.
Bonk: A kind of coal that is so hot it takes on green and blue shades.
Rogue Smith: A travelling owl who works as a blacksmith, and has no home.
Battle Claws: Sharp metal spikes attached to an owl's talons to be used as a weapon in battle.
Gizzard Resister: An owl who does not believe in violence, and often rebels peacefully against attempts of violence

There are nine books, and there are four more to come. They are:
[list]The Capture
The Journey
The Rescue
The Siege
The Shattering
The Burning
The Hatchling
The Outcast
The First Collier
The Coming of Hoole
To Be a King
The Golden Tree [/list]

*Books in red have not yet been released
**The 13th book's name has not yet been released.

Yes, I know. They are very childish books, but I enjoy reading them.