Barn owl (Tyto alba)

Barn owl (Tyto alba)

The barn owl needs grassland habitats, and these are being lost to urbanization and changing farm practices. As traditional wooden farm buildings are torn down and replaced by more modern “bird proof” barns, this owl loses suitable nesting sites. Loss of habitat for the barn owl’s prey (rodents such as voles) also poses a threat to the owl’s survival. Road mortality is also an issue for these owls, who fly low along roadways at night on the hunt for prey in adjacent grassy areas.

This distinct looking owl is easily identified by its white heart-shaped face, black eyes, golden colour, pale, lightly speckled under parts, and long legs. Another key feature of the barn owl is that it lacks the “ear tufts” found on other types of owls.

The barn owl is a mid-sized owl, growing 35 cm-45 cm tall. While many other owls hoot or whistle, the barn owl’s call consists of hisses, screams, cries and other strange noises.

This adaptable owl nests and roosts in barns and abandoned buildings. It may also use natural cavities in trees or holes in cliff faces, as it did before the arrival of Europeans in North America. It lives year round at its nest site and hunts for rodents over orchards, and grasslands such as farmlands, fallow fields and meadows.

Fun Facts
Barn owls can fly without creating any noise. They hunt from the air, swooping down on small prey.

Barn owls hunt in the dark and have keen hearing. They can capture prey even in total darkness.

Although uncommon, barn owls have been found nesting in urban and residential neighbourhoods.

The barn owl is found on all continents except Antarctica.

Barn owls live only two to four years in the wild and have many predators including raccoons, cats and great horned owls.

Pairs of barn owls use the same nest year after year. This trait is known as “site fidelity.”

In the Pacific Northwest, the barn owl preys  primarily on the common field mouse, it makes up more than 90% of the barn owl’s diet. It takes hundreds of mice to supply a single barn owl with its energy needs for one year. The barn owl also preys on meadow voles, moles  and small birds.

Animals such as barn owls, their prey, and humans have an endoskeleton of bone and cartilage surrounded by soft tissues. This skeleton is living tissue which grows and repairs itself, provides structural support and protection for vital organs, as well as enables movement by functioning as a sturdy system of jointed levers powered by contracting muscles.

Since the barn owl occupies the highest level of its own tropic pyramid, it may be used as a  biological indicator. A study of the Tyto alba’s  past and present population may well disclose  the apparent health of the ecosystem.  Changes  in the availability of a primary food source due to drought, pollution, or other environmental  stresses are reflected in the population size of  the predator.

Owl pellets found in the wild are masses of bones, teeth, hair, feathers, scales and insect skeletons.  They are produced and regurgitated, not only by owls, but also by hawks, eagles and other raptors which swallow their prey whole or in large pieces.  The soft parts of the prey are dissolved by proteolytic enzymes (protein digesters) and strong acids which occur in high concentrations in the stomachs of raptors.  The relatively weak stomach muscles of the bird form the undigested fur, bones, feathers, etc into wet, slimy pellets.

Barn owl on Lithuanian silver coin of 5 litas

The reverse of the coin displays the Barn owl from the Red Book of Lithuania. The inscriptions LIEPSNOTOJI PELĖDA, TYTO ALBA (Barn owl, Tyto alba in Latin) are arranged in a semi-circle.