Barn owls are the most widespread landbird and one of the most widespread species around the world, they are on every continent besides Antarctica. Barn owls are white and brown or white and grey and they are speckled on most of their body. They have short squarish tails that separate them from the typical owl. Their faces are shaped like hearts and the feathers around their beak make the owl look like it has a nose. They are medium-sized raptors with strong talons and a hooked upper beak for tearing apart meat. The barn owl’s body is relatively small to the size of its wings, this makes the barn owl a great flyer. The barn owl’s left ear is higher than its beak and the right ear is lower. The barn owl doesn’t have a “hoot” as a call, like most owls, but instead a long shriek.

From day to day, the barn owl is a sedentary creature, but the barn owl is capable of going long distances. If they live somewhere with a distinct wet and dry season, they may migrate. Barn owls sleep during the day and hunt at night, so like most owls, they’re nocturnal. Some owls who do hunt during the day often get mobbed by other birds. A barn owl often has multiple roosts it hides and sleeps at during the day. Common roosts are a hole in a tree, caves, cliff ledges, and some human structures. Owls are also solitary and secretive creatures, so much so that it’s been hard to count them. However, their conservation status is of low concern.

The barn owls have interesting feeding and hunting habits. They feed mostly on rodents and pests, so they’re good for farmers (but sometimes they eat other birds). They eat every part of the rodent, this includes the bones. They prefer rodents but when there isn’t much food, they eat what they can find. They can eat lizards, frogs, and sometimes other small birds. What allows them to do this is their amazing hunting skills. Their flying silence helps in the hunt. Part of this is due to their large wings not needing to flap often, and part of it is due to their soft-fringe edged feathers that don’t swoosh in the wind. Their prey can’t hear them so they're pretty easy to catch. The owl also has amazing low-light vision, so they don’t need a lot of light to see their prey. When it’s super dark, they can rely on their hearing. Aided by their satellite dish faced heads, they use their asymmetrical ears, which helps detect sound position and distance, to catch prey. Their sharp talons make it hard for the rodent to escape.

The barn owl is monogamous and it stays with one partner for life, unless one dies. The partners don’t stay together for most of the year but they always come together for nesting season. The two look for nests in a lot of human structures, like chimneys, barns, or nest boxes. After finding one, the male brings the female food and then they copulate. Right after the female lays the first egg, which is white, incubation begins. The nest is usually made up of debris and regurgitated food formed into a nest. The female lays an egg every other day, so the youngest egg might be several weeks younger than the oldest, since the average is five eggs in a brood. The male continually brings the female food during this time. Oftentimes more than she can eat, so there can be a pile next to her. A lot of the excess food is used to feed the young after they hatch. While the female is incubating, the male continually mates with her which can harm the younger eggs. In a good year the success of their eggs is around 75% and they can have up to three broods a year, but it’s usually two.











The babies hatch helpless with little fluffy feathers. They rapidly grow and after a few hours, their heart shaped face feathers start to come in. It takes around 13 weeks for them to become completely independent, independence comes after the mother teaches them how to hunt. The mother and father then go back to their own roosts but will reunite again next season.

All in all, I understand why everyone loves owls.