Barn Owl On A Fence Post In The Evening Light
With heart-shaped face, buff back and wings and pure white underparts, the barn owl is a distinctive and much-loved countryside bird. Widely distributed across the UK, and indeed the world, this bird has suffered declines through the 20th century and is thought to have been adversely affected by organochlorine pesticides such as DDT in the 1950s and '60s. Barn Owls are still relatively common throughout most of their range and not considered globally threatened. While the Barn Owl is prolific and able to recover from short-term population decreases, they are not as common in some places as they used to be. Common names such as "Demon Owl", "Death Owl", or "Ghost Owl" show that for long, rural populations in many places considered Barn Owls to be birds of evil omen. Consequently, they were often persecuted by farmers, unaware of the benefit these birds bring. The Barn Owl has acute hearing, with ears placed asymmetrically for improved detection of sound position and distance, and it does not require sight to hunt. Hunting nocturnally or crepuscularly it can target and dive down, penetrating its talons through snow, grass or brush to seize rodents with deadly accuracy. Compared to other owls of similar size, the Barn Owl has a much higher metabolic rate, requiring relatively more food. Pound for pound, Barn Owls consume more rodents—often regarded as pests by humans—than possibly any other creature. This makes the Barn Owl one of the most economically valuable wildlife animals to farmers. Farmers often find these owls more effective than poison in keeping down rodent pests, and they can encourage Barn Owl habitation by providing nest sites. Nocturnal and crepuscular birds like the barn owl have seen their numbers increase between 1995-2008. The most recent survey (1995–1997) put their British population at between 3,000 to 5,000 breeding pairs. In the UK, the Barn Owl Nest Box Scheme is promoted by the World Owl Trust and has many participants in local areas.
Size: 3455px × 5184px
Location: Surrey, England
Photo credit: © John Porter LRPS / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: barn, bird, birds, brown, countryside, crepuscular, death, demon, england, english, evening, fauna, ghost, ghostly, hunter, hunting, kingdom, light, nocturnal, ornithology, owl, perching, persecuted, predator, prey, trust, uk, united, white, wild, wildlife, wise, world
