10 Fun Facts About Barn Owls

From their near-silent flight to their ability to rotate their necks 270 degrees, owls can seem more like mythical creatures than flesh-and-blood birds.

Barn owls, in particular, are on another level. Known for their pale heart-shaped face and shrill calls, these fascinating birds dwell in shadowed spaces on the outskirts of the human world. Read on to learn why it’s a privilege to have barn owls as neighbors, even if you never see them.

1.) Barn owls can be found almost anywhere in the world. In 2024 ornithologists divided what was once considered one species into three: the American, Eastern, and Western Barn Owls. Taken together, they’re among our most widespread land birds, nesting on every continent except Antarctica. They tend to avoid the northernmost reaches of North America, Europe, and Asia, but they don’t mind some tropical island weather: They’ve settled everywhere from the Caribbean to Madagascar to small islands in the Pacific.

2.) Despite having relatively small eyes for owls, barn owls boast spectacular vision in low-light conditions. Their eyes are designed to maximize light sensitivity so they can hunt at night. The tradeoff is that they see particularly poorly in daylight, even compared to other species of owl. Research also suggests that barn owls’ visual processing may be quite complex: A study in 2018 revealed that the birds could group together different elements moving in the same direction, an ability previously seen only in humans and primates.

3.) On top of outstanding night vision, barn owls also have the greatest ability of any animal tested to locate prey by ear. All owls have a facial disc—a concave collection of short feathers that ring their face—but the barn owl’s heart-shaped disc is especially prominent. It functions as the owl’s satellite dish, funneling sound towards the ears. Which, by the way, are asymmetrical, with one ear slightly above the other. This helps them to pinpoint the source of a sound in three dimensions, including tiny prey scrabbling through hidden spaces.

4.) Barn owls in flight are virtually silent. That’s largely thanks to the shape of owl wing feathers, which have a serrated leading edge, velvety texture, and soft fringe that dampens the sound of air moving through. Barn owls in particular have very large wings relative to their body size, which allow them to move slowly—they can fly as slowly as two miles per hour—and reduce noise. Their reliance on silent flight to hunt at night has made the species a desirable model for engineers looking to develop quieter wind turbines and computer fans.

5.) With their sharp senses and hushed flight, it’s no wonder that Barn Owls are superb hunters. Depending on where they live, their menu of small mammals includes everything from voles and mice to rats and small rabbits. One estimate suggests they can consume 1,000 mice a year. Oh, and they swallow them whole, bones and all.

6.) Barn owls’ hunting prowess is why some conservation advocates promote using the birds as a natural form of pest control. Ironically, rat poisons kill huge numbers of owls, hawks, and other raptors, along with many other unintended targets. The California nonprofit Hungry Owl Project offers barn owl nesting boxes to vineyards in exchange for their agreement to stop using rodenticides.

7.) Female birds usually get the short end of the stick when it comes to aesthetics. Not so for the barn owl, whose females can be distinguished by their heavy flourish of speckles around the head and breast. Research suggests that the marks may be more than decorative: A 2001 study found that females with more spots showed a higher resistance to parasites; remarkably, so did their nestlings. The researchers think that the spots could indicate a hereditary advantage to potential partners.

8.) When it comes to attracting potential partners, male barn owls rely on an aerial dance called a “moth flight.” During this mating ritual, the male hovers in front of the female and shows off the white areas on his chest. If the female is sufficiently wooed by the performance, she will respond with a snore-like call, which indicates that the male may now bring her food and, with a little luck, mate with her. (Barn owl chicks also make a snoring sound when they’re calling for food. If you hear outdoor snoring, you might be in their vicinity!)

9.) Barn owls don’t hoot—they hiss, grunt, and scream. Yes, scream.

They use these high-pitched shrieks to communicate to other members of their species; a longer, more forceful scream indicates a distress signal or warning. Accordingly, their Irish name, scréachóg reilge, translates to “graveyard screecher.” (Some say the barn owl’s cries gave rise to the country’s Banshee legend.)

10.) Have you ever wondered if a rundown building is haunted? That ghost might actually be a barn owl. The species has a habit of roosting in old and abandoned buildings. Add that to their ghostly face and shrieking habit, and it makes sense that barn owls have found their way into many a legend. Some investigators have suggested that the American Barn Owl might be behind alleged sightings of famous cryptid Mothman. And in South Texas and Mexico, the birds are known as lechuza—shape-shifting witches that bring bad tidings.