The barn owl is well known to residents of Western European countries, however, little is known about it in Russia. This is the most ancient branch of the owl order. Its Latin name sounds like Tyto alba, and English - Barn owl. The people called her a night owl, a ghostly and screeching owl. Its distinguishing features are a peculiar voice and the shape of the head. Who is this barn owl, and what kind of life does she lead? Let's talk more in this article about one of the most common owls in the world.
Barn Owl Description
The name of this bird of prey, apparently, comes from the peculiarity of its voice, reminiscent of a kind of snoring or vulture. It differs from other representatives of owls in the shape of the facial disc in the form of a heart, while it seems that it is wearing a white mask. The small bird has a light color and a peculiar face. It is about the same size as a long-eared owl or jackdaw. It reaches 33-39 cm in length, its body weight is 300-355 g, and its wingspan is about 90 cm. By the way, its weight can vary widely and depends individually on a particular individual. She can weigh as much as 180g, and 700 g.
In the upper part of her color has acquired a sandy (red) color with white and dark speckles. The barn owl is white in the lower part (rarely yellow), in addition, dark blotches are present in the plumage. The facial disc is light and has a flattened appearance, it also received an ocher border, under the eyes there is a small area of red feathers. Wings - fawn-white, with a golden-striated pattern. The iris is dark brown or black. Her eyes are expressive and large. It has a slender physique, and it also has long paws, which have thick and fluffy plumage to the fingers. She has a short tail. The beak is yellowish white. By the way, the color of the lower part depends on the habitat of the barn owl. For example, in North Africa, Western and Southern Europe, in the Middle East it is white, but in the rest of Europe it is yellow-orange.
By gender, they practically do not differ from each other. The females are slightly darker, but this is not very noticeable. Young chicks also do not differ from adults, sometimes they are more colorful.
As we have noticed, such a bird as a barn owl has a very memorable appearance, the photo clearly demonstrates this to us.
Habitat
There are 35 subspecies of barn owl, which are distributed on all continents, excluding only Antarctica, they are also found on the islands. Previously, it could be found in the B altic States and other CIS countries: now it lives there in small numbers. On the territory of Russia, it is found only in the Kaliningrad region. In the European partit is absent in the northern regions and mountain systems.
On the one hand, the barn owl is adapted to various geographical conditions, as it is distributed almost everywhere, and on the other hand, it does not have the ability to accumulate fat reserves in itself, therefore it does not tolerate the harsh climate. In the northern regions of the United States and in most of Canada, in Northern Europe and almost throughout Russia, for this reason, it is not. The bird cannot also live in the African and Asian deserts.
There were cases when the barn owl was artificially populated by humans in areas where it had never been. Thus, she appeared in the Seychelles and Hawaiian Islands, in New Zealand. After the barn owl was settled in the Seychelles, the population of the kestrel, which she fed, began to decline.
Favorite Places to Stay
Barn owl almost always settles near human dwellings. It breeds both in large cities and in rural areas. He likes to settle in attics, in hollows and wall niches. Prefers rooftops and abandoned buildings. The barn owl is most often found in open plains where there are few trees. It can be places such as woodlands, swamps, dense meadows, the bird also lives along wastelands, reservoirs, ravines and highways.
It can often be found where agricultural farms and human habitations are located. Barn owl tries to avoid dense forests and high mountainous places. This bird needs the following conditions to spread:food availability, lack of cold winters and weak competition with other predators. Basically, they do not change their habitat, the exceptions are situations when the food supply in their habitat is depleted.
What does he eat?
Mouse-like rodents are her favorite food, and she can also handle pasyuk (large gray rat). She can catch up to 15 mice per night. Rarely eats small birds, in particular, sparrows, as well as large and amphibious insects. Rats, voles, hamsters, shrews, opossums can be used as food. They can also catch bats, frogs, reptiles and invertebrates. The owl grabs the victim right on the fly, pinches it with its tenacious claws and carries it to a place where it can safely feast on it.
Features of the location of the hearing aid allow the bird to capture all the sounds that the victim makes, which helps her a lot when hunting. Her ears are not symmetrical: one of them is at the level of the nostrils, and the other is in the forehead.
Characteristic voice of barn owl
She makes a hoarse whispering rattle. Barn owls defiantly flap their wings and click their beaks. By the way, this feature of them can involuntarily terrify people who decide to relax in the silence of the forest and meet with her. Many sounds made by this owl have been noted, but still the hoarse screeching trill that can be heard during its flight is still the predominant one. The call of the barn owl is lower in tone.
By the way, the bird got its Russian name for a low, rattling, hoarse cry,which sounds like "hehe". They emit it more often than the usual owl hoot. Her peculiar hoarse voice resembles a hoarse cough.
Nightlife
She flies out to hunt in the late twilight and is strictly nocturnal. As a rule, they live alone, but can be found in small groups in areas where game accumulates. Since barn owls are active at night, they sleep during the day. To sleep, they choose some kind of niche, natural or artificial - it can be a hole in the ground or an unused attic.
During the hunt, they change height - then they rise up, then go down again, flying around the property. They can also wait for the victim, hiding in ambush. Their wings are designed in such a way that their flight is as silent and soft as possible, in addition, they have excellent vision and hearing. By the way, in some regions barn owls hunt during the day, for example, in Britain, but at this time of day there is a danger for them in the form of birds of prey, such as seagulls.
The barn owl kills its prey with its claws, then steps on it with a long leg and tears it apart with its beak. It has a very mobile neck, thanks to which it can eat prey without bending over. While eating, the feathers of the facial disc move, and it seems that the owls grimace.
Reproduction
The barn owl is usually monogamous, but cases of polygamy are also not excluded. In a year there is one, less often two clutches. The beginning of the breeding season depends, as a rule, on the climatic conditions of the habitats.and amount of food. In warmer regions and where there is plenty of food, they can breed at any time of the year. For example, in the temperate zone of Europe or North America, this begins in March-June. If there is a re-laying, then the breeding of chicks will take place in the period March-May and June-August.
The male himself chooses the place where the nest will be, and then begins to call the female. As such, the nest is not built; a closed and dark place is chosen for this. This may be a recess in an old stump, a tree hollow and other niches. The female incubates the eggs while the male brings her food. The conditional nest is located at a height of 2-20 meters above the ground, the clutch size is usually 4-7 eggs, but can be from 2 to 14. There are more of them, as a rule, during periods characterized by an abundance of food. The eggs, which are white or cream colored, average 30-35 mm.
During the breeding season, birds make various sounds. They scream shrillly and hoarsely, hoot and sniff, making a characteristic “heee” sound. The rest of the time, as a rule, owls are silent. The female incubates the eggs for about a month. Juveniles fly out of the nest at 50-55 days of life.
By the way, a pair of owls stay together until the death of one of the partners. The female and male live close to each other, but alone.
Behaving in times of danger
In a calm state, a sitting barn owl holds its body straight, and if the bird is worried, it takes a threatening pose - spreads its paws, spreads its wings in a horizontal plane andclings to the ground. When she meets the violator of her territorial possessions, she actively flaps her wings, coming closer and closer to the enemy. Hissing loudly and snapping its beak. If this does not help, then she attacks the enemy, falling on his back and striking with her clawed paws.
Barn owl chicks
Hatched chicks are completely dependent on their parents who take turns feeding them. At birth, they are covered with thick white down. In the event that it is very cold, the barn owl does not leave the nest at all and warms the chicks, which become completely independent after three months. Grown up chicks fly away to new places and find another territory for living and reproduction. A barn owl can have even 10 chicks at a time, if conditions allow, but in a hungry year, as a rule, no more than 4 eggs are expected.
It is noted that the behavior of their chicks is atypical for birds: they show altruism, refusing food in favor of those who are more hungry than they are. Compared to most other birds, in which the cubs literally tear food from each other in order to eat themselves, this fact is of great interest to such a bird as the barn owl. A photo of her chicks shows what they look like when they are born.
Parents show concern even after their chicks fly out of the nest: they continue to care for and feed them until they become completely independent, that is, they reach three months of age.
Attitude of people
People have always had barn owla symbol of wisdom, but at the same time they treated this bird with superstitious fear. Now superstitions are becoming a thing of the past, and a person is increasingly showing genuine interest in her. Barn owls instilled fear in people because of some of their features: a white face resembling a mask, frightening sounds, and also because of the habit of this bird to silently fly up and abruptly appear in the face of a person, for which people called it a ghostly owl.
The barn owl mainly feeds on rodents, thereby benefiting humans. People have long appreciated the help of these owls in the destruction of pests. So, in the 17th century, such a practice spread when special windows were made in houses, barns, mills and other buildings through which barn owls could penetrate and destroy rodents. Thus, the birds remained full, and benefits were brought to humans.
If they notice a number of people, they begin to behave very interestingly: they rise high, sway on their feet in different directions and at the same time depict various grimaces. If you get very close to her, then she usually flies away.
How long does a barn owl live?
Under natural conditions barn owls can live up to 18 years, but this is the maximum figure. In fact, it turns out that they basically live very little - their average life expectancy is about 2 years. Cases have been recorded when a barn owl was able to live in natural conditions up to 17 years, in North America a bird in captivity died at the age of 11.5 years, but in England a record was broken - the bird lived in captivity for 22 years.
We talked about such an interesting bird as the barn owl, about its habits and how it is useful for humans. Unfortunately, due to changes in the environment and the use of pesticides in various parts of Europe, the number of barn owls is declining. It is also not uncommon for birds to die from collisions with cars on the roads. Currently, the barn owl is a bird that is listed in the Red Books of a number of countries in Eastern Europe, where, for unknown reasons, its numbers have been rapidly declining in recent decades.
