Barn Owl

SCIENTIFIC NAME

Tyto alba

CLASSIFICATION

Class:

Aves

Order:

Strigiformes

Family:

Tytonidae

Genus:

Tyto

Species:

alba

SIZE

Length:

Male:

16-18 inches

Female:

18-20 inches

Weight:

Male:

13-15 ounces

Female:

up to 18 ounces

Wingspan:

Male:

32-35 inches

Female:

34-36 inches

APPEARANCE:

The common adult Barn Owl has two color phases: white and orange. In the white phase, the owl is colored a pale yellow orange, spotted with dark gray-brown and white. Its wings are a tawny color, with a medium orange tail that is mottled with gray. Its facial disk is white circled by a dark brown ruff with brown patches in front of its eyes. The orange phase, however, is darker with a medium brown facial disk. It has a pale yellow underside that is spotted with brown. A juvenile/immature bird is basically the same, but with less extensive spotting.

The Barn Owl has a very distinct heart-shaped facial disk, surrounded by a dark ruff. It has small, dark eyes, an elongated beak, and no ear tufts. Its wings are about two times the length of its tail. Its tarsi are covered with short feathers.

RANGE/DISTRIBUTION:

The common Barn Owl is perhaps the world’s most widely distributed species, ranging through North, Central and South America; Britain and Western Europe to the Black Sea; North, Central and Southern Africa, Madagascar, India, Burma, many islands of the East Indies, Australia and Tasmania. Over 30 geographical races of the species have been described.

HABITAT/TERRITORY SIZE:

Barn Owls are found primarily in open to semi-open habitats and forests, as well as in cities and towns.

MIGRATION:

Some northern birds may move south in winter.

DIET:

The Barn Owl feeds on small mammals, including bats, as well as other birds, lizards, frogs, insects and fish.

HUNTING METHOD:

Barn Owls are nocturnal owls and hunt primarily by flying low along hedges, through woodlands and over fields, occasionally perching on a perch or low branch. After locating their prey by sight or sound, they hover and swoop, striking with their talons and then immediately taking off with their food firmly held in their beak.

Barn Owls probably have the best sense of hearing of all the owls and can pinpoint prey in total darkness.

BREEDING INFORMATION:

The Barn Owl’s mating ritual begins with the male hovering in one spot over the female; and, heading to the sky, emitting a sort of breathless choking sound. If the female does not accept, the male leaves. If she does accept, the male repeatedly claps his wings beneath him, then flies off and returns with a small rodent.

No nest is built. The round, white eggs are laid on dirt, feathers or old castings which help to hold them in place. Nests in hollow trees, caves, old barns, and abandoned buildings.

Clutches average 3-6 eggs, with larger clutches up to 9-11 eggs if food is plentiful. Only the females incubate, being fed daily by their mates during the 4 1/2- to 5-week incubation period.

The chicks hatch in the order the eggs were laid, with the first eggs hatching several days before the last. This hatching provides a permanent advantage to the older chicks, as the younger, less strong chicks are the first to die if the food is scarce.

The chicks are kept in the nest and fed up to 1.5 times their own weight each day until they are about 22 days old. The chicks are covered with a soft, fluffy down when first hatched and fledge, fully feathered, at 10-12 weeks of age.

BEHAVIOR:

Barn Owls can be gregarious birds. In fact, groups of 10 to 12 birds have been found in one building.

The owl’s vocabulary consists of hisses, screeches, and a beak snap used to indicate anger. The have been known to let out almost blood-curdling hissing or raspy screams.

Their defensive attitude, crouching or lying flat on the ground with wings spread horizontally, is different from that of other owls. Warning is expressed by lowering the head and swinging it to and fro close to the ground or stretching it forward, hissing, and snapping the beak and drooping the wings.

STATUS:

Barn Owls, like most birds of prey, were threatened mostly by farmers who feared for the safety of their livestock. Fortunately, the common Barn Owl was among the first to be protected by U.S. Customs laws.

FOLKLORE AND MYTHS:

Stories about owls can be found throughout history in many cultures, mythology, and even the Bible. Some liked the owl, but to many they were feared and associated with evil and death. They were often considered a messenger of death, if you saw an owl or heard its sound, death to someone you knew was eminent.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

“Birds of Prey of the World”, by Mary Louise Grossman, 1964, p. 409-412.
“The Owls of North America”, by Allen W. Eckhart, 1987, p. 4-17.
“Birds: Their Life, Their Ways, Their World”, copyright 1976 in Switzerland by Elsevier Publishing Projects S.A, Lausanne. Published in 1976 by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York.
“Bird Families of the World”, copyright 1978 in Switzerland by Elsevier Abrams, Inc., New York.
Cathi Wright, Oregon Zoo, Assistant Show Coordinator