Facts on the Barn owl ( Latin name Tyto alba ). The Barn owl was once a feared owl, because it is a 'white' or 'silver' owl, often seen hunting in the twilight of dawn, it was called the ghost owl. If a barn owl (death owl) landed on the roof of your house or dwelling, it was believed that someone within was going to die.
Barn owls eat mainly small mammals, such as mice and rats, (during a breeding explosion of rats or mice, the barn owl will rapidly breed ), bats, frogs, lizards, birds and insects. barn owls have also been known to take small rabbits.
Barn owls are often refered to as the screech owl, ( the noise they make when telling you off, when sitting here typing with my barn owl sitting next to me, sometimes he makes me jump out of my skin when he suddenly screeches in my ear, if he is really mad at me, he will make a 'snapping' sound with his beak ) but have also been know as Church Owl, Scritch Owl, Barnyard Owl, Death Owl, white owl, silver owl.
Life expectancy of the Barn owl in the wild is upto 2 years,
(reason unknown) however in captivity, the barn owl can live 20 years plus,
(one barn owl was recorded as 'retired from breeding' at 25 years old).
More barn owl facts to follow
