American Barn Owl
SCIENTIFIC NAME:
Tyto furcata
Order:
Tyto furcata
Family:
Tytonidae
Genus:
Furcata – Latin furcatus, meaning "forked" or "bifurcated," referring to the shape of the tail in certain barn owl subspecies.
TAXONOMY:
In 2024, the World Barn Owl complex was split into three different species. In North America we now recognize Tyto furcata, occurring from southern Canada to Patagonia. The division is supported by genomic, vocalization and morphological data. After the recent split, only 11 subspecies are described for T. furcata.
OTHER ENGLISH NAMES:
Barn Owl, Cave Owl, Death Owl, Ghost Owl, Golden Owl, Monkey-faced Owl, Night Owl, Screech Owl, Silver Owl, White Owl.
Spanish:
Lechuza Común, Lechuza de Campanarios
Portuguese:
Suindara, Coruja-das-Torres
French:
Effraie des Clochers
FOSSIL RECORD:
Earliest fossil of T. alba sensu lato is from the Quaternary (Olson 1985). The earliest of eight extinct members date from the middle to late Miocene.
DISTRIBUTION MAP
DISTRIBUTION:
Barn Owls can be found in the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. In North America: British Columbia throughout most of the US and into Mexico and the Caribbean (Hispaniola); also Bermuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Cayman Islands, and Jamaica.
HABITAT:
Occurs across a broad range of habitats, with distribution shaped by prey availability, seasonality, and competition. At higher latitudes, it is limited by winter severity and is rare north of regions with mean January temperatures around 0° C. Primarily associated with open lowlands with scattered trees, such as farmland, young conifer plantations, wetlands, and peri-urban areas. It also occupies semi-arid and arid landscapes, savannas, shrublands, agricultural fields, coastal cliffs, and islands. Although mainly a lowland species, it can occur at elevations up to about 4,000 m.
DESCRIPTION:
Size:
Medium sized, females are heavier and larger than males. Ranges from 29-45cm/11-18 inches
Wingspan:
39-49 in/100-125 cm
Body Mass:
9-24oz/250-700g
Activity Period:
Normally nocturnal.
Field Marks:
Variable in plumage according to geographic location.
Face:
White heart-shaped facial disc, bordered by white, dark brown, or tan; small and dark eyes, long and withish/ivory colored beak.
Body:
Chest and belly range from unmarked white to dark buff with heavily marked black spots, and dorsally presents light goldish with grayish mottling. Legs noticeably long with sparse feathering continuing to the base of toes.
Voice:
Range of calls, including screeches, wheezes, purrs, snores, twitters, hisses and yelps; also bill-snapping, tongue-clicking, and wing-clapping. Male's familiar screech, considered advertising or warning call, usually given in flight, a hoarse, screaming, eerie "shrrreeeeee" of 2-3 seconds duration, repeated after 1-20 seconds. The female's voice is lower-pitched.
Young:
At hatching naked, eyes closed, egg tooth present; first down (neoptile) is white and appears shortly thereafter; second down (mesoptile) begins and replaces first down at about 10-15 days old, white to pale gray or buff, similar to adult plumage; first basic plumage (juvenile) acquired at 8-9 weeks.
Vocalization:
BREEDING:
Non-breeding Birds:
Mostly resident, but can be nomadic in lack of food or harsh winters.
Breeding Season:
February to June. Normally breeding once per year, but in years with high prey numbers, as many as three broods have been recorded. May begin roosting together in potential nest sites in November (Marti, 2024). Courtship probably begins about one month before egg laying.
Social Relations &
Breeding Age:
Most commonly monogamous for their entire lifetime, but polygyny sometimes recorded. Most individuals can breed in their first year.
Nest Type:
Natural cavities such as tree trunks, stumps, or large hollow branches (6-65 ft/2–20 m above ground), as well as in cliffs, caves, and occasionally on the ground. Also exploits artificial structures, including nest boxes, silos, churches, towers, barns, abandoned buildings, windmills, disused water tanks, lighthouses, chimneys, haystacks, duck blinds, unused boats, and even abandoned wells (up to 33 ft/10 m deep). Abandoned nests of other bird species may also be used.
Eggs & Clutch:
Eggs dull white and more elongated than those of other owls (König et al. 1999). Clutch 2-16 eggs, usually 4-7; laid in 2-3 day intervals.
Incubation &
Hatching:
Incubation by female only; 29-35 day incubation period. Hatching is asynchronous at the same intervals as laying.
Brooding:
Nestlings are brooded by females until about 3 weeks of age at which time females spend more time perched at entrance or roosting in nearby cavities. Male feeds the female throughout egg-laying, incubation, and brooding periods. Females feed young. After young leave the nest both male and female help in feeding.
Nest Departure:
At about 4 weeks of age young jump out of the nest, hole or cavity, still incapable of flight. Brood remains close to the nest and are still dependent on their parents for food.
Fledging:
Between approximately 7 and 9 weeks of age, flying skills are improving. Juveniles remain in close association with their parents for another 4-5 weeks.
Dispersal:
Young begin to disperse from their natal territories about 13 weeks of age. Disperse in various directions. Most settle to breed within the region of their birth.
Life Span:
Most live 1-2 years. Some have been reported to survive 21 years. The oldest known wild Barn Owl was 34 years of age.
DIET:
Insects, worms, amphibians, reptiles, occasionally small fish, small bats and birds; but mostly small mammals. In North America, mainly voles (Cricetidae), gophers (Geomyidae), and shrews (Soricidae).
CONSERVATION:
In some areas conservation efforts have included: the protection of grassland habitats; control over the use of chemical agents; providing nest-boxes; and/or the release of captive-raised birds.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bunn, D. S., Warburton, A. B., & Wilson, R. D. S. (1982). The Barn Owl. T & AD Poyser, Calton, UK.
Cramp, S. (1985). Handbook of the Birds of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa: The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume IV: Terns to Woodpeckers. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Duffy, K. E. (1985). Fall migration of Barn Owls at Cape May Point, New Jersey. In Proceedings of Hawk Migration Conference IV (pages 193-205). Hawk Migration Association of North America.
Holt, D. W., et al. (1999). Barn Owl (Tyto alba). In J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, & J. Sargatal (Eds.), Handbook of the Birds of the World, Vol. 5: Barn-owls to Hummingbirds (pp. 34-75). Lynx Edicions.
Holt, D. W. & Becker, D. M. (1990). Identification of Montana-s Owls. Montana Outdoors, 21: 11-26.
Keran, D. (1981). Longevity record for a wild Barn Owl. Wilson Bulletin, 93(2): 270-271.
König, C., Weick, F. & Becking, J. H. (1999). Owls of the World. Pica Press.
Marti, C. D., A. F. Poole, L. R. Bevier, M.D. Bruce, D. A. Christie, G. M. Kirwan, J. S. Marks, and P. Pyle (2024). American Barn Owl (Tyto furcata), version 1.1. In Birds of the World (S. M. Billerman, B. K. Keeney, and M. G. Smith, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. <a> https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.brnowl.01.1 </a>
Ruiz, M. D., Ramsden, D., Roper, S., Cresswell, B., & Skuse, J. (2021). Juvenile Barn Owl Tyto alba dispersal: a radio-tracking study of roost site selection in relation to landscape features. Bird Study, 68(2): 245-257.
Stewart, R. E. (1952). Dispersal, breeding behavior, and longevity of banded Barn Owls in North America. Auk, 69(3): 227-245.