Barn owl

The barn owl is a pale, pretty owl with a white, heart-shaped face and soft golden wings. It has long legs, dark eyes, and feathers so soft that it can fly almost without a sound. Barn owls often make their homes in barns, old buildings, and holes in trees, which is how they got their name.

Barn owls come out to hunt at night and at dusk. They float low and slow over open fields, looking and listening for their next meal. Their heart-shaped face acts like a dish that gathers sound, so their hearing is so sharp they can find a little mouse in the grass even in the dark.

Small animals make up almost all of a barn owl’s food, especially voles, mice, rats, and shrews. After it swallows its meal, an owl’s tummy cannot use the bones and fur, so it coughs them back up as a neat little lump called a pellet.

Mother and father barn owls often stay together and raise their chicks in the same cosy nest spot each year. The female makes a simple bed from fluffy pellet pieces, and the father brings food while she keeps the eggs warm.

Barn owls live across much of the world, so there are still many of them. Even so, they need rough, grassy fields to hunt in and safe old buildings or trees to nest in. When people leave wild corners for them and use fewer poisons that can harm them, barn owls have all they need to thrive.