The Ghostly Barn Owls

Barn owls are found all over the world, on every continent except for Antarctica. Being very adaptive, the owls make their homes in arid desert-like areas to meadows with flowing streams. Most barn owls can be found in areas with latitudes between 40N and 40S of the equator. They prefer secluded quiet areas for roosting and nesting. It's common for these owls to call steeples, abandoned buildings, tree cavities - and yes! - barns their home. In tropical areas, barn owls have taken a liking to nesting in palm trees, a problem for the young owls who may fall during high winds or as they outgrow the base of the palm frond.

Hunting at night in the open areas and fields, barn owls may fly up to 3 miles, looking for food. Mice, gophers, voles, shrews, small birds, insects, and even fish and crustaceans make up their diet. If the food supply is low, they'll hunt in the daytime to get enough to eat.

These owls consume quite a bit of food! Young owls will eat up to a dozen mice if given the chance. Adult owls can consume a large rat or the equivalent per night. The Owl Rehabilitation Research Center reports that these owls will eat twice as much prey for their weight as other types of owls. Given such a huge appetite, farmers worldwide, from the midwest U.S. to India have set up nest boxes to control the rodent population. In fact, one internet site is devoted to different types of nest boxes that the owls prefer.

And you will NOT hear the barn owl hoot. The sounds it makes range from clicks to snores to screams, guaranteed to make the blood of a little mouse curdle!

By nature, barn owls are nocturnal and solitary. Flying close to the ground, they are completely silent. This total silence in flying is due in part to their feather tips that are split, breaking the flow of the air at the trailing edge of their wings. They can locate unsuspecting prey in absolute darkness with their exceptional hearing. Some additional information on the owl's uncanny hearing can be found at the Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center's page on barn owls. Technical data online is in these research papers.

Barn owls will mate for life. Normal broods have 3 to 6 young. In England, there have been reports of up to 18 in one brood. 2-3 broods per year are normal but if the food supply is low, the owls may go without a brood during that time. The eggs are laid one every few days over two or three weeks, thus spreading out the hatching over a similar length of time. At about three weeks of age, the owlets are able to eat by themselves the food their parents provide. The Book of North American Owls by Helen Roney Sattler and Jean Day Zallinger has a chapter devoted to barn owls. There is a review on-line that you can check.

Average life span is usually less than three years for barn owls in the wild, but they've lived over ten years in captivity. The populations worldwide of these special owls are declining. Their favored grasslands are being replaced by towns, roads, and urban sprawl. Additionally, the owls may catch rodents who have eaten rat poison or consumed food sprayed with pesticides. For some reason yet to be known, the barn owl suffers more severe effects from consuming pesticides than other species of owls. These pesticides are often responsible for eggshells that are too thin. Barn owls are on endangered species, "special concern," or rare lists in many states of the United States and in Canada and are protected by laws in several other countries.