North American Barn Owl
The barn owl is from the family of the old world owls.
North american barn owl. However it is really a good omen for farmers who find it in their barns for it preys chiefly on mice and rats. The light breast and heart shaped face distinguish this owl from all others. Owing in part to this difficulty the north american breeding bird survey could not detect a significant population change between 1966 and 2014 although it appears that their numbers have slightly increased in that time. A few including the international ornithologists union separate them into distinct species as is.
Discovered in its daytime retreat the barn owl bobs its head and weaves back and forth peering at the intruder. It is different from all the other owls seen in north america. Now most of these barns are gone and metal barns are now the substitute. All other north and central american owls are members of the strigidae family true owls.
However the hole size 5 x 5 inches should not be increased as this may help protect the birds against larger predators such as great horned owl. Lanky with a whitish face chest and belly and buffy upperparts this owl roosts in hidden quiet places during the day. With its ghostly appearance rasping shrieks and habit of roosting in such places as church belfries this bird has attracted much superstition. It is also known as the common barn owl to distinguish it from the other species in its family tytonidae which forms one of the two main lineages of living owls the other being the typical owls strigidae.
Barn owl tyto alba. By night they hunt on buoyant wingbeats in open fields and meadows. At one time when there were wooden barns all over the continent in the south this bird of prey was a regular resident. The american barn owl tyto furcata is usually considered a subspecies group and together with the western barn owl group the eastern barn owl group and sometimes the andaman masked owl make up the barn owl cosmopolitan in range the barn owl is recognized by most taxonomic authorities.
Ghostly pale and normally strictly nocturnal barn owls are silent predators of the night world. The eyes are dark umber and the bill is straw colored. You can find them by listening for their eerie raspy calls quite unlike the hoots of other owls. The barn owl is north america s only member of the monkey faced tytonidae owl family.