Barn Owls (Tyto Alba)

Soaring through the night, his wings flap silently as he searches for prey. Tuning his incredible hearing towards the ground, a mouse squeaks deep inside its burrow. Turning swiftly, he heads into a kill dive. Rushing straight down, he speeds towards the sound. As he ascends again, a dead mouse is hanging from his beak. He flutters silently towards a nest in the loft of an abandoned barn. His mate awaits him.

Barn owls have become endangered because they love to roost in old barns. When demolishing crews come to tear the barn down, they don’t look for barn owls and nests. Many owls are killed by demolishing crews. Others are killed by pesticides. People set out rat poisons. The rats eat the poison. When the barn owl comes to kill it, the poison has not yet reached its system. Thus, the barn owl gets poisoned as well. This can be seriously affective if the owl in question is pregnant. The baby will become affected by the poison and most likely either weaken its immune system or kill it within weeks. An owl cannot survive like that.

Long ago, farmers believed barn owls to be evil. They called them ‘demon owls’, or ‘ghost owls’. Many a farmer would find a barn owl in its barn, only to kill it on the spot. This legend is discouraged now, and very few deaths are caused by beliefs in the old tale.

Barn owls have a lifespan of approximately two years, due to poisoning and destruction. In reality, one can live up to twenty years. They have a huge wingspan of 75-110 cm, and have long legs as well. Many barn owls are distinguished from other owls with their heart-shaped face and pale extremities. A strong female would weigh 550 grams or more; a male will be 10% lighter. Contrary to other owls’ eyes, the barn owl has brown and black eyes. Many other species have yellow and amber eyes. Their talons are usually black, and, against popular belief, the barn owl does not hoot. Instead, it produces a scream-like shree that is ear-splitting at a nearby distance. Males in courtship will give a shrill twitter.

Although barn owls are not critically endangered, we still need to keep an eye on their numbers. The government has banned the poison that once wiped out barn owls, and now construction crews are advised to check lofts of old barns before eliminating. Barn owls are making a good comeback.