Barn Owls By Mindy

Introduction Barn owls are owls that does not hoot but screech. They are also called Tyto alba alba in Latin.

Where do they live? Barn owls mostly live everywhere except the deserts and polar regions. Most of them live in Indonesia and some live in the pacific. They usually live in caves, hollow logs and dense trees.

Appearance Barn owls can be between 25 and 40cm tall. Adult barn owls wings can be 110cm long too. They have big eyes which makes them have fantastic eyesight. They have heart-shape face, most of them are white on the face..

Appearance continued….. On the back of their head they are shaded brown and grey. The tummy is mostly white but some may be brown. Some of them are speckled with dark spots. They have long claws and legs. They have a ivy coloured beak which looks like a long nose.

Hunting Barn owls have good eyesight but use their hearing skills to catch their prey. They are also able to catch the smallest prey because of their sense of hearing. Since they have long claws and legs they can catch their prey even if they are at the base of a bush. Barn owl ears are located differently from ours. They can also fly silently.

Hunting continued Barn owl ears are located differently from ours. They have one of the ears above and one ear below so while they are for their prey, one ear focuses on the ground the other captures the sound above. They mostly eat small mammals such as mice, birds(even in the air), fish(that are close to the surface ). They swallow their prey whole than brings back up the indigestible parts up(like bones).

How do they protect them selves Barn owls are quite well camouflaged. When viewed from above their brown feathers camouflages with the long grass. When viewed from below their white feathers makes them hard to see from the sun. They can also hiss loudly and scare the intruder away.

Giving birth Female barn owls often lays 7 eggs in the warmth of spring. They mostly nest in rocks or hollow trees. The eggs usually hatches after a month. The male barn owl is known to help feed the chicks. The barn owl chicks are able to fly when they are 12 weeks old.

What other names does the barn owl have? Barn owls have lots of nicknames: White Owl, Silver Owl, Demon Owl, Ghost Owl, Death Owl, Night Owl, Rat Owl, Church Owl, Cave Owl, Stone Owl, Monkey-faced Owl, Hissing Owl, Hobgoblin or Hobby Owl, Dobby Owl, Golden Owl, Scritch Owl, Screech Owl, Straw Owl, Barnyard Owl and Delicate Owl.

Cool facts Wild Barn Owl can eat about 4 small preys each night, which means they eat about 1460 preys each year ! They can still catch their prey even in blank darkness, in plants and even inside snow. There are more than 30 different species of barn owl found across Europe, Africa, Asia and parts of Australia and the Americas.

Thank you!