The Barn Owl

One of our FAVORITE birds is the Barn Owl. Owls are some of the most misunderstood birds on earth.  We hope that this entry will help you understand owls a little better.  Some people said that owls were a sign of witches, monsters, or devils.  However, we know that isn't true.  When we think of owls we think of awesome, amazing, wonderful creatures.   
The Barn Owl is recognized by the moon shaped or monkey shaped face and the golden yellow colors on the back side of the body.  Their chest is white with little black spots.  The wing feathers are fringed so they muffle all the sound of their wing beats.  Their legs are tipped with sharp talons that they use to catch mice, sugar gliders and other small vertebrates.  They can eat as many as 1,000 rodents a year.  Barn Owls are equipped with ears that point forward and are not equally leveled.  This arrangement of the ears allows the barn owl to pin point where ever the sound of their prey is coming from.  They will then swoop down and go for the kill.  They belong to the family of Tytonidae.  Their scientific name is Tyto Alba.  They can be found almost everywhere in the world except for polar and artic regins.  At one time someone took them to Hawaii, but they had to take them off because they almost killed off another bird called the Albatross, which is kind of like a seagull.
We were introduced to owls through the book series "The Guardians of Ga'Hoole".  We recommend these books.  They are fiction, and very interesting.