Bird of the week - Barn owl

Watching a barn owl floating silently across a field at dusk is a thrilling experience.  I was very pleased to see this pair hunting in late afternoon while there was still good light.

Barn owls are mostly nocturnal but those in the UK are at the northernmost edge of their range and are more likely to be seen out hunting at dawn and dusk, particularly after poor weather.  Their favourite prey is the field vole such as this one, identifiable from its short tail and blunt nose.

Barn owls were severely affected by DDT and other poisons in the mid 20th century but the population has recovered. The barn owl is now green listed although the UK population is only 4000 pairs.

Barn owls are birds of open countryside and farmland and these BTO BirdAtlas maps show that they are more common in the eastern half of the country.

Thomas Bewick made this woodcut of a barn owl for A History of British Birds (1797). 

Barn owls are found throughout most of the world but in recent years some authorities have split them into three species.  Ours, Tyto alba, is now the western barn owl.  The American barn owl, now Tyto furcata, was painted by John James Audubon.

Archibald Thorburn also painted the barn owl.

You can listen to Miranda Krestovnikoff's BBC Radio 4 Tweet of the Day here and to Chris Packham's here.  You can learn more about barn owls via the Barn Owl Trust's website here.  And watch a short BBC video on how barn owls fly silently here.