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Animal profile

Barn Owl

Tyto alba

AvesOpen grassland, farmland, marsh edge and rough field margins, roosting in cavities and buildingsLeast Concern

Field profile

A pale, heart-faced owl of open country with long legs and buoyant, quartering flight. It hunts small mammals largely by sound and swallows prey whole, casting the remains as pellets. It is among the most widely distributed land birds in the world.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-05-04

Barn Owl

The barn owl's ears sit at different heights

One ear opening is higher than the other, so a sound arriving from above or below reaches them with slightly different intensity and timing. That asymmetry lets a barn owl fix prey in two dimensions and strike accurately in complete darkness.

Read with evidence →

Barn Owl | Daily Animal Facts