There are over 30 subspecies of barn owl, and with a few exceptions, they are distributed world-wide.

Statistics
Barn owls are about 34cm long, with a wingspan of 90cm. Males average about 300g, and females weigh an average of 362g.

Physical description
With their large heart-shaped face, white under-parts and pale golden back and wings, barn owls look like ghostly apparitions at night.

Barn owls further north of Europe are a darker shade than the race found in the UK. The eyes are positioned on the front of the face, like most predators, to allow a good perception of depth and the ability to isolate prey.

Distribution
Barn owls are widely distributed, and range throughout Europe (except Scandinavia), southern Asia, Africa and parts of America and Australia.

Habitat
They nest in farm buildings as well as churches, sheds and natural holes in trees. They inhabit farmland and other open country with scattered trees.

Behaviour
Barn owls are typically nocturnal, although they can sometimes be spotted hunting during the day, especially when they have young to feed. They sometimes hunt birds, but mostly hunt small mammals, in particular, short-tailed voles, using sound to detect their prey.

The short feathers that form the facial disc enhance the barn owl's hearing by forming a groove, which helps direct sound waves to the ear opening.

Reproduction
Barn owls live alone or in pairs, and tend to mate for life. The female lays a clutch of 4-7 eggs in April to early May, which hatch after about 33 days. The male helps feed the young and the chicks can fly after 9-12 weeks. They sometimes breed twice a year.

Conservation status
Barn owls have declined in Britain, due in part to the reduction of derelict old buildings and due to the use of persistent pesticides, such as DDT, which prey consume, and eventually quantities build up in the predator, causing weak egg-shells.

The releasing of captive bred barn owls into the wild is illegal.

Barn owls are considered to be rare and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, under which it is an offence to intentionally disturb them while nesting. There are many conservation schemes to try to ensure that the feeding and nesting resources that the birds need are available. Barn owls are not listed in the 2000 IUCN Red List. Recent census work shows that the population has bottomed out in the last ten or fifteen years at about 4,400 pairs.

Voice
Barn owls do not hoot, instead they emit a long, eerie screech (hence its alternative name, the screech owl). They also hiss, snore and yap.