Barn Owl

Tyto alba

Taxonomy:
Class: Aves
Order: Strigiformes
Family: Tytonidae
Subfamily: Tytoninae
Genus: Tyto

Length: 14-20 in.
Weight: ~1 lb. (females slightly larger than males)
Wingspan: 43-48 in.

Common Names: ghost owl, monkey-faced owl, heart-faced owl, spirit owl, sweetheart owl

Etymology: tuto (Greek) - "night owl"; alba (Latin) - "white"

Description: Barn owls have large heads without ear tufts. Their facial disk is distinctively heart-shaped, unique among North American owls, and females tend to be darker in the face than males. Barn owls have an ivory-colored beak that looks like a long nose, long feathered legs and toes. There are two color phases: white phase has white underparts sometimes with brown or black specks; orange phase has no white in plumage, only tawny or buff colors. Immature barn owls are similar to adults, only more down is visible, and chicks have white to buffy white down.

Flight: Swift from side to side rather than a straight line. In breeding season they are typically active shortly after sunset and just before sunrise.

Voice: Loud hisses, shrill screeches, beak snapping, sometimes shrieking. Barn owls don't hoot, they hiss and scream. Because of their vocalizations and beautiful white plumage, these owls are probably the source of many ghost stories.

Habitat: Most often found in the countryside with open fields for hunting and old buildings for nesting. Open country, on the forest edge and in cultivated areas in towns and cities.

Distribution: Nearly worldwide. In North America, they range from southern Canada southward into Central America. They are common in local pockets.

Nesting: Usually breed at one year old. As with most owls, there is no nest construction. Barn owls usually lay 2-18 (generally 3-10) white (sometimes yellowish or bluish) eggs on bare wood or stone in old buildings or barns, silos, or other tall structures; caves; hollow trees; sometimes even in a ground burrow. Nests are reused year after year but by different pairs. Incubation lasts 29-34 days, usually 33 days. Barn owl young fledge at about 56-62 days. Only the female has an incubation patch, and she does all the brooding. Barn owls are usually monogamous, but will re-mate if one of the pair disappears. They breed year-round; northern populations will breed on "normal" cycle, and will often lay another clutch before young from the first clutch fledges. The barn owl seems to practice a form of birth control; when food is scarce, they lay fewer eggs or do not breed at all.

Food: Barn owls are solitary hunters, typically quartering up and down open grasslands, eating 90% small rodents such as voles and field mice. When attacking prey in the dark, they approach with wings flapping and feet swinging like a pendulum. When directly over the prey, the owl will swing the feet forward, raise their wings and throw the head back with eyes closed. The prey is attacked with the feet, and the beak is used to kill. Barn owls are incredibly efficient; they have been recorded catching 60 mice per hour! Young owls learn early how to hunt, and will pounce repeatedly at inanimate objects.

Baby Barn Owl Pictures:

2nd week	4th week