Granddad’s Camera
Barn owl, as it appears in the game

No.045 · Birds · Uncommon

Barn owl

Tyto alba

A ghostly white owl that quarters rough grassland on silent wings. In winter it will hunt in daylight.

When to look

All year, mostly at dawn, dusk and night.

Time of day

Best time
Dusk and dawn; in autumn and winter also by day.
Where in the game
the Norfolk Broads (grazing marsh and fen) and Millbrook (farmland)
Size
Length 33–39 cm (Wildlife Trusts)
Wingspan
About 89 cm (Wildlife Trusts)
Weight
About 337 g (BTO); range 280–420 g
Lifespan
Oldest ringed bird 15 years 3 months (BTO)
Population
About 4,000 pairs (BTO, 2016)
Status
Green (Birds of Conservation Concern 5, 2021)

Diet

Field voles and other small mammals, plus frogs and small birds

Habitat

Rough grassland, marshes, field edges and barns

Breeding

Clutch typically 4–6 eggs; incubation 32 days; young fledge at about 52–60 days; often two broods.

Field signs

  • Ghostly white underparts and a heart-shaped face, low over rough grass at dusk and dawn
  • In autumn and winter, hunting by day along field edges and verges
  • A long, eerie screech at night
  • Black pellets and whitewash under a roost

Did you know?

  • Barn owl numbers have risen 223% between 1995 and 2024 (BTO).
  • The barn owl was moved from the Amber to the Green list in 2015 after its range recovered (BTO); organochlorine pesticides such as DDT had hit numbers in the 1950s and 1960s (RSPB).
  • Field voles are their most important prey in mainland Britain (BTO).

Moments worth waiting for

  • Daytime hunting October to February, day
    A white owl drifts over the marsh in daylight.
  • Pounce all year, dawn and dusk
    The owl hovers, then drops onto its prey.

Photo tip

Wait along a lane or marsh edge in the last two hours of light, or on winter afternoons when owls hunt by day, with the sun behind you. Use a 400–500 mm lens at 1/1600 s or faster, and pre-focus on the quartering owl's head as it turns.

Be a good naturalist

Schedule 1 species: never approach nest sites (barns, boxes or tree holes) or use playback, and don't use flash. Stay in the car or on the path; an owl that ignores you is best left undisturbed.

The law

Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981: it is illegal to intentionally or recklessly disturb one at or near the nest.

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