All about barn owls

Barn owls are instantly recognisable from their heart shaped faces and distinctive feathers. To help these birds thrive, our rangers monitor the owls throughout their lives in order to understand more about their preferred habitat and lifestyle.

Feeding, flying and breeding 

Barn owls prey on small mammals. Their big eyes are great at seeing in low light and they have specialist hearing which helps them to accurately pin-point their prey. They fly silently and slowly and can appear to hover over the small rodents they hunt. Once they see something, they will give a brief beat of their wings and then drop feet first, thrusting their talons into the vegetation.

They are famous for flying at night and can often be seen at dusk. You might catch one flying in the daytime, particularly when they have young to feed. These owls don’t store much fat so they need to feed quite regularly to avoid going hungry. 

Barn owls normally hatch on average four chicks, but only two or three usually fledge. When fully grown, they have a wingspan of around 110cm and weigh between 470-570g.  Their wings are very long for their body which helps them to fly silently.

Young owlets 

Most barn owls are ringed as nestlings, when they are between three to seven weeks old. By measuring their wing span and looking at the development of their feathers experts can determine the age of an owl chick.

The process of ringing helps to monitor the population and movement of birds, as well as their longevity. It also means that there is more chance of recovery if an owl is sick or injured. 

Finding a good home

Barn owls are predominantly found in open countryside and farmland, but may also be seen on the fringes of urban areas. Some older buildings (especially old barns) have owl windows, small openings high in the gable end, which give access to the loft space – as owls were once a popular form of pest control. 

Barn owls tend to favour agricultural buildings provided there is suitable surrounding habitat for small mammals, as well as being little disturbed. In many cases, nesting boxes have been successfully installed by our rangers, particularly in modern barns where there are few voids.

As a conservation charity, it's vital that we protect our landscapes, to help conserve one of the most beautiful birds alongside all the other animals that call the countryside home.