Field Guide
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Barn Owl
Tyto alba
Not yet photographed by the community
Heart-faced ghost of the farmland at dusk.
Species Profile
Amber List (UK Birds of Conservation Concern); Annex I protected species under the Wildlife and Countryside Act
- Lifespan
- 4–15 years in the wild; typically 4–5 years
- Size & Weight
- 32–39 cm; wingspan 80–95 cm; 330–465 g (females larger than males)
- Habitat
- Open farmland, grassland, marshes, and moorland with suitable nesting sites such as barns, church towers, and cliff cavities.
- UK Distribution
- Found throughout the UK but patchily distributed; resident year-round with numbers supplemented by continental birds in autumn and winter. Absent or scarce in upland areas.
- Diet
- Hunts small mammals, primarily rodents and shrews, caught during nocturnal flights over open ground.
- Prey
- Bank voles, field voles, common shrews, wood mice, brown rats, and occasionally small birds
- Predators
- Golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, tawny owls, and foxes; chicks vulnerable to stoats and corvids
- Mating Season
- January to June
- Breeding
- Clutch of 4–7 eggs; incubation 29–34 days; fledging at 50–60 days. Usually one brood, occasionally two if conditions favour early laying.
- Behaviour
- Strictly nocturnal hunter with silent, buoyant flight; locates prey by sound using asymmetrical ear placement. Highly faithful to nest sites and partners; males perform dramatic heart-shaped facial discs during courtship displays.
- •Barn owls can hear a mouse moving beneath snow or thick grass and pinpoint it in complete darkness
- •Their heart-shaped facial disc acts as a parabolic reflector, funnelling sound to their asymmetrically-positioned ears
- •Historically widespread, barn owl populations crashed in the 20th century due to pesticide use, loss of rough grassland, and modern farming; recovery efforts ongoing
- •A barn owl can consume up to 11 mice per night during breeding season
- •The barn owl's eerie scream call is often mistaken for a ghost or supernatural phenomenon in folklore
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