[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]This beautiful Barn Owl was spotted by Paul Shaw at Burnham Overy Staithe in Norfolk, hunting along the A149. Food becomes scarce for Barn owls in winter so they have to spend more time hunting for prey. As a result they're sometimes seen like this, hunting in daylight. Paul used a Nikon D7000 and a 500mm f4 lens.
Scientific name: Tyto alba
Size: Approx 32 to 34cm
Distribution: Found in most parts of the UK except the north of Scotland
Months seen: All year round
Habitat: Farmland. Hunts along the edges of fields
Food: Mostly voles and mice
Special features: Barn owls can be easily recognised by their light coloured plumage, which is white on the front, and orange-brown on the back, speckled with some ash grey markings. They have a heart shaped disc of feathers around the face.
Barn owls are nocturnal hunters, and when you see one flying at night it appears to be all white. This appearance coupled with its eerie screeching call may account for many ghost stories, as they are sometimes seen hunting for mice in graveyards.
The Barn Owl has such sensitive hearing it is able to exactly locate a field mouse rustling through straw in a pitch dark barn. It can do this because its ears are located at different positions on the sides of its head. One is at the height of its forehead, and the other is level with its nostril.
Once a prey item is located the owl silently drops down onto it and grabs it with it's powerful, sharp talons.
Barn Owls do not build nests themselves. Instead they rely on a variety of nesting sites for laying their eggs, such as tree cavities, rock ledges, and ledges in barns. Barn Owls have also been known to nest in burrows in riverbanks.
The Romans were very superstitious of barn owls and associated them with death. They believed that if a barn owl landed on the roof of a house, someone inside was going to die!
Sat Dec 15, 2012 9:36 am
