Barn Owl Habitat

The barn owls are unique owl species, due to their distinct heart-shaped face and dark eyes. The barn owl is many times known as the common barn owl to help differentiate it from other species of the barn owl family Tytonidae. The barn owl habitat consists of many parts of the world, other than polar and desert regions. Let us have a look at the habitat of barn owl in detail. You can read more on owls as pets.

What is the Habitat of the Barn Owl?
The favorite habitat of a barn owl is an open low-lying area that is below 750 feet elevation. Their habitat also covers an extensive range and is however uncommon in higher mountain regions. Their habitats do not consist of areas with low mean January temperatures, densely forested and intensively cultivated areas. In short their habitat consists of woodlands, groves, farms, fields, canyons, cliff or towns. The barn owls prefer various forest types, semiarid shrub-land, marshes, etc.

These birds build nests underground in burrows or holes in embankments. It also nests in elevated nests of other birds, steeples or barns. If the barn owl finds no nest, it will make do with rubbish and debris heaps. They basically do not build typical bird nests. Instead they litter the base of their nest cavity with regurgitated pellets made of fur, bones, etc. of the prey they eat. The barn owl are found in North America, South America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia and Australia.

Physical Description of Barn Owls
The barn owl is pale, long-legged and long-winged owl. It is about 24 - 45 cm in length and has a wingspan of about 75 - 110 cm. The distinguishing feature other than the heart-shaped face of the barn owl from other owls is its tail shape. The tail in flight has wavering motions with open dangling legs. The upper parts of the body is light gray feathers in most species. Some also have rich brown colors and all have black and white speckles. The heart shape face is bright white in color and with black eyes, with a ridge of feathers above the bill that looks like a nose.

Ecology of Barn Owls
The barn owls are nocturnal creatures that are active shortly before the dusk. They are sometimes seen during the day, if they need to find a new, comfortable sleeping place. It likes to hunt around the wood edges and flies low and slowly.

Diet of Barn Owl
Barn owls feed on small rodents and you will be surprised to know that a young barn owl eats more than 1000 rodents per year. They also prefer mice, gophers, small birds, bats, frogs, lizards, large insects and even fish on the menu.

Reproduction in Barn Owls
It is common to have two broods a year in barn owls. The breeding season lasts from March to August. The broods can have 2 to 16 eggs. It is very common to find about 5 - 7 eggs in a single brood. The incubation period varies from 29 - 34 days and the young fledge at about 56 to 62 days.

Life Span of Barn Owls
The barn owl life span is very short. Most of them die in their first year of life. In the wild, the average life expectancy of barn owl is 1 to 2 years. In America the oldest barn owl lived up to 11 years and 6 months. In Holland, the life span of the oldest barn owl was about 17 years and 10 months. A captive female barn owl in England was recorded to be 25-year-old.

This was all about the barn owl habitat and its life cycle. I hope you found the information in the above article on barn owl facts to be interesting and useful.