Barn Owl

• It has one of the widest natural ranges of any bird on the planet.
• Unlike most mammals, its hearing does not deteriorate with age.
• It finds its prey by means of extraordinarily sensitive hearing.
• sentidosIts ears are set asymmetrically, which lets it pinpoint prey in total darkness by triangulating the sound.
• anatomíaIt can turn its head up to 270 degrees, thanks to extra neck vertebrae and an unusual arrangement of the arteries there.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - pneumatised bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat and environment

One of the most widely distributed birds in the world: open fields, farms, and rural and urban areas on almost every continent except Antarctica

Birth weight

Exact weight at hatching not found as a precise figure

Size at birth

Blind and covered in white down at hatching

Sexual maturity

~1 year (though this varies with how much prey is available)

Gestation / incubation

29-34 days

Litter / clutch size

2 to 18 eggs per clutch (most commonly 4-7)

Life expectancy in captivity

Documented record of up to 34.1 years in captivity

Sources consulted: A-Z Animals; Dimensions.com; Animal Diversity Web; Barn Owl Trust; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Natural History Museum; Owling.com; NHPBS NatureWorks

Best time: All year round, at dusk; it is usually seen hunting in low, silent flight over grassland and verges.