Barn Owl
Tyto alba
Length 34cm

A beautiful owl, sadly decidedly scarce in most areas. Usually seen at dusk or after dark, caught in car headlights, when appears ghostly white; flight leisurely and slow on rounded wings. Only when seen perched can the orange-buff upperparts, speckled with tiny black and white dots, be appreciated; facial disc heart-shaped and white. Feeds mainly on small mammals located by quartering meadows, farmland and roadside verges; seen all too often as a road casualty. Sometimes nests in tree holes but, as name implies, often uses barns and other buildings and readily takes to nesting platform provided for this purpose. Blood-curdling call one of the most frightening sounds of the countryside at night. Widespread in Britain and Ireland although absent from many upland areas.