Tyto alba

• Interesting Facts
• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Interesting Facts

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Physical Description

Habitat

Hunts in areas rich in rodents, along desert washes and canyons , where trees for perching are available. Usually, it hides under trees, abandoned burrows and buildings, and old farm machinery left in fields .

Vegetation: arid lowland scrubs, second-growth scrub, arid lowland scrubs, arid montane scrubs • Maximum Elevation: 4,000 meters • Foraging Strata: Canopy • Center of Abundance: Lower tropical: lowlands, lower than 500 m.; tropics. • Sensitivity to Disturbancet: Low

Typically found at an altitude of 0 to 4,653 meters (0 to 15,266 feet).[1]

Ecology: List of Habitats : 3.5 Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical Dry 3.7 Shrubland - Subtropical/Tropical High Altitude 3.8 Shrubland - Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation 14.1 Artificial/Terrestrial - Arable Land 14.2 Artificial/Terrestrial - Pastureland 14.6 Artificial/Terrestrial - Subtropical/Tropical Heavily Degraded Former Forest

Biology

Diet

Mice, gophers, and small birds.

Reproduction

Breeding Habitat : Grassland Nest Type : Cavity Clutch Size: 3-11 Length of Incubation : 30-34 days Days to Fledge : 52-56 Number of Broods: 1, occasionally 2

Adult Barn Owls often live in pairs, although some do not roost together all year round. By March pairs are usually roosting together, at or near the site where they intend to breed . They engage in courtship behaviour, chasing and screeching around the breeding site, the male often presenting food items to his mate. This helps to ensure that the female is in tip-top condition. All being well, the annual cycle begins again in April or May.

Barn Owls will breed any time during the year, depending on food supply. In a good year, a pair may breed twice. Rodent plagues cause Barn Owl numbers to increase dramatically. During courting, males may circle near the nest tree, giving short screeches and chattering calls .

Migration

Some migrate

Taxonomy

Unambiguous Synonyms

1. Strix Alba
2. Tyto alba alba (Scopoli, 1769)

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name . Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 28-Sep-2005.

Similar Species

Short-Eared Owl

Members of the genus Tyto

There are approximately 83 species in this genus:

T. alba (Monkey-Faced Owl) · T. alba affinis (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba alba (Monkey-Faced Owl) · T. alba bargei · T. alba bondi · T. alba contempta · T. alba crassirostris (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba delicatula (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba deroepstorffi · T. alba detorta (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba erlangeri · T. alba ernesti · T. alba furcata · T. alba glaucops · T. alba gracilirostris · T. alba guatemalae · T. alba guttata · T. alba hauchecornei · T. alba hellmayri · T. alba hypermetra · T. alba insularis · T. alba javanica (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba kleinschmidti · T. alba lucayana · T. alba lulu · T. alba meeki · T. alba nigrescens · T. alba niveicauda · T. alba poensis · T. alba praticola · T. alba pratincola (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba punctatissima (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba punctatissma (Galapagos Barn Owl) · T. alba schmitzi (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba ssp · T. alba stertens (Common Barn-Owl) · T. alba subandeana · T. alba sumbaensis · T. alba thomensis · T. alba tuidara · T. aurantia (New Britain Masked-Owl) · T. balearica · T. capensis (African Grass-Owl) · T. capensis amauronota · T. capensis cameroonensis · T. capensis capensis (African Grass Owl) · T. capensis chinensis · T. capensis longimembris · T. capensis papuensis · T. capensis pithecops · T. castanops (Tasmanian Masked Owl) · T. delicatula · T. glaucops (Ashy-Faced Barn Owl) · T. inexspectata (Minahassa Masked-Owl) · T. longimembris · T. longimembris amauronota · T. longimembris chinensis · T. longimembris longimembris · T. longimembris longimenbris · T. longimembris pithecops · T. manusi (Admiralty Islands Masked-Owl) · T. multipunctata (Lesser Sooty-Owl) · T. nigrobrunnea (Taliabu Masked-Owl) · T. novaehollandiae (Australian Masked Owl) · T. novaehollandiae calabyi (New Guinea Masked Owl) · T. novaehollandiae castanops · T. novaehollandiae galei · T. novaehollandiae kimberli · T. novaehollandiae melvillensis · T. novaehollandiae novaehollandiae (Australian Masked Owl) · T. perlata · T. pratincola · T. rosenbergii (Sulawesi Masked Owl) · T. rosenbergii pelengensis · T. rosenbergii rosenbergii (Sulawesi Masked Owl) · T. sororcula (Moluccan Masked Owl) · T. sororcula cayelii · T. sororcula sororcula (Moluccan Masked Owl) · T. soumagnei (Madagascar Grass Owl) · T. tenebricosa (Greater Sooty-Owl) · T. tenebricosa arfaki · T. tenebricosa perconfusa · T. tenebricosa tenebricosa (Greater Sooty-Owl)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A Floral and faunal inventory of the eastern slopes of the Réserve naturelle intégrale d'Andringitra, Madagascar: with reference to elevational variation / Steven M. Goodman, editor. [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1996. ENG url p. 180, p. 184.
• A bibliography of birds: with special reference to anatomy, behavior, biochemistry --. by Reuben Myron Strong Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1946 UND url p. 242, p. 41.
• A checklist of the vertebrate animals of Kansas / George D. Potts, Joseph T. Collins. [Lawrence, Kan.]: Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1991. ENG url p. 12.
• A geographic classification of Neotropical mammals. [Chicago]Chicago Natural History Museum, 1958. ENG url p. 630.
• Alsop, Fred J. III. Birds of North America - Eastern Region. First American Edition. Smithsonian Handbooks. DK Publishing, Inc. 2001.
• Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, -1965. ENG url p. 106, p. 107, p. 125, p. 150, p. 153, p. 154, p. 96.
• Aquila. Budapest: A Magyar Ornithologiai Knt Kiadva, 1894- HUN url p. 16.
• Banks, R. C., R. W. McDiarmid, A. L. Gardner, and W. C. Starnes 2003. Checklist of Vertebrates of the United States, the U.S. Territories, and Canada.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Birds in Kansas / Max C. Thompson and Charles Ely. Lawrence, Kan.: University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History: c1989- ENG url p. 327, p. 328, p. 404.
• Brehm, C.L. (1831): Handb. Naturgesch. V and amp;ouml;g. Deutschl.
• Brigham Young University science bulletin. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University, [1955-1976] ENG url p. 68.
• British birds. London, Witherby and Co. ENG url p. 172.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 140, p. 142, p. 171, p. 199, p. 258, p. 295, p. 405, p. 417, p. 418, p. 419, p. 448, p. 478, p. 515, p. 558, p. 593, p. 610, p. 611.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. New Haven: The Museum, ENG url p. 184, p. 186, p. 189, p. 190.
• Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). London: BM(NH) ENG url p. 104, p. 147, p. 17, p. 226, p. 3, p. 88.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 145, p. 311, p. 326, p. 650.
• Bulletin of the Natural History Museum. Andover: Intercept. ENG url p. 203, p. 223.
• Check-list and bibliography on the occurrence of insects in birds' nests. Ames, Iowa State College Press[1959] ENG url p. 104, p. 113, p. 115, p. 136, p. 137, p. 138, p. 143, p. 18, p. 180, p. 19, p. 200, p. 38, p. 50, p. 53, p. 588, p. 589, p. 61, p. 69, p. 72, p. 92.
• Check-list of North American birds / prepared by a committee of the American ornithologists' union. Lancaster, Pa.: The Union, 1931. ENG url p. 461, p. 512.
• Dansk ornithologisk forenings tidsskrift. [Kavn]: Den Forening, [1907- DAN url p. 145.
• Ecological animal geography; an authorized, rewritten edition based on Tiergeographie auf ockologischer grundlage / by Richard Hesse prepared by W. C. Allee and Karl P. Schmidt New York: J. Wiley and Sons, Inc.; 1937. ENG url p. 407, p. 595.
• Ecology of Buzzards Bay: an estuarine profile / by Brian L. Howes and Dale D. Goehringer and Center for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts; Rebecca J. Howard, project officer. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1996. ENG url p. 73.
• Ehrlich, P., Dobkin, D., and Wheye, D. (1988). The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds. New York: Simon and Schuster Inc. (info on clutch size, length of incubation, days to fledge and number of broods.)
• Entomological news. [Philadelphia]American Entomological Society, 1925- ENG url p. 172, p. 60.
• FWS/0BS. [Washington]Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Dept. of the Interior. ENG url p. 137, p. 239, p. 239, p. 241, p. 290, p. 52.
• Faune de France. [t.] 1-68. Paris, 1921-66. FRE url p. 452.
• Field Museum of Natural History bulletin. Chicago, Field Museum of Natural History, [1930]-c1990. ENG url p. 11.
• Fleas, flukes and cuckoos; a study of bird parasites, by Miriam Rothschild and Theresa Clay. New York, Macmillan, 1957. ENG url p. 285, p. 305.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. ENG url p. 228.
• Ibis. [London]Published for the British Ornithologists' Union by Academic Press. ENG url p. 102, p. 258, p. 362.
• Intraspecific and interspecific variation in the Cryptotis nigrescens species complex of small-eared shrews (Insectivora, Soricidae): with the description of a new species from Colombia / Neal Woodman, Robert M. Timm. [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1993. ENG url p. 10, p. 28.
• Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. Washington [etc., Washington Academy of Sciences] ENG url p. 324.
• Memoirs of the San Diego Society of Natural History. San Diego, Calif.: The Society, 1931- ENG url p. 106.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1946-1996. ENG url p. 29, p. 30.
• Novitates Zoologicae. London. url p. 102, p. 184, p. 259, p. 260, p. 41, p. 93, p. 94, p. 94, p. 97, p. 98.
• Occasional papers of the California Academy of Sciences. San Francisco: California Academy of Sciences, ENG url p. 75, p. 76.
• Occasional papers of the Museum of Natural History, the University of Kansas. Lawrence, Kansas: The University, 1971-1994. ENG url p. 19, p. 22, p. 29, p. 31.
• Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems / [edited by], Edward T. LaRoe [et al.]. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1995. ENG url p. 231.
• Postilla. New Haven, Peabody Museum of Natural History, 1950-2004. ENG url p. 20.
• Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences, 4th series. San Francisco, California Academy of Sciences. ENG url p. 276, p. 487, p. 567, p. 792.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 114, p. 117, p. 45, p. 45, p. 565, p. 627.
• Readings in mammalogy: selected from the original literature and introduced with comments / by J. Knox Jones, Jr. and Sydney Anderson. [Lawrence]Museum of Natural History, University of Kansas, 1970. ENG url p. 515.
• Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc. (Length and wingspan info.)
• Selected vertebrate endangered species of the seacoast of the United States / prepared by National Fish and Wildlife Laboratory, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. [Washington]: The Service: [for sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. Govt. Print. Off.], 1980. ENG url p. 1.
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 10, p. 144, p. 39, p. 4, p. 593, p. 600, p. 85, p. 9.
• Studies in neotropical mammalogy: essays in honor of Philip Hershkovitz / edited by Bruce D. Patterson, Robert M. Timm. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1987. ENG url p. 152, p. 153, p. 285.
• The Emu. Melbourne: Australasian Ornithologists' Union, ENG url p. 140, p. 172, p. 173, p. 225, p. 277, p. 30, p. 44, p. 63, p. 71, p. 92.
• The Great Basin naturalist. Provo, Utah, M.L. Bean Life Science Museum, Brigham Young University. ENG url p. 102, p. 150, p. 17, p. 197, p. 229, p. 234, p. 307, p. 385, p. 422, p. 506, p. 55, p. 55, p. 602, p. 602, p. 605, p. 73, p. 732, p. 82, p. 83, p. 83.
• The Ottawa naturalist. Ottawa, Ottawa Field-Naturalists' Club. ENG url p. 132.
• The Scottish naturalist. Arbroath [etc.]T. Buncle and Co. [etc.] ENG url p. 185, p. 339.
• The birds of El Salvador, by Donald R. Dickey and A. J. Van Rossem. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1938. ENG url p. 45.
• The birds of southeastern Madagascar / Steven M. Goodman [et al.]. [Chicago, Ill.]: Field Museum of Natural History, c1997. ENG url p. 118, p. 132.
• The contemporary land mammals of Egypt (including Sinai) / Dale J. Osborn, Ibrahim Helmy. [Chicago]: Field Museum of Natural History, 1980. ENG url p. 559.
• The fauna from the terminal Pleistocene of Palegawra Cave, a Zarzian occupation site in northeastern Iraq / Priscilla F. Turnbull -- and Charles A. Reed --. [Chicago]Field Museum of Natural History, 1974. ENG url p. 128.
• The faunal connections between Europe and North America. New York, Wiley[1957] ENG url p. 34.
• Transactions of the San Diego Society of Natural History. [San Diego]: The Society, 1905- ENG url p. 166, p. 181, p. 215, p. 262, p. 267, p. 290, p. 415, p. 55.
• Tulane studies in zoology. New Orleans, Tulane University. ENG url p. 98.
• University of Kansas publications, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas. ENG url p. 176, p. 200, p. 330, p. 402, p. 627, p. 667, p. 689, p. 691, p. 694, p. 701, p. 769.
• Verhandlungen der Ornithologischen Gesellschaft in Bayern. M: E. Reinhardt, 1904-1989. GER url p. 370.

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Clark, M. A. WhoZoo.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed November 12, 2007. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 40 providers.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal November 12, 2007:

• Avian Knowledge Network, Great Backyard Bird Count
• Avian Knowledge Network, eBird
• Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, Bishop Museum Natural History Specimen Data
• Bird Studies Canada, Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
• Bird Studies Canada, Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 2001-2005
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Ontario Nest Records
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds
• Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility, Royal British Columbia Museum
• European Environment Agency, EUNIS
• GBIF-Spain, Museu de Ciències Naturals, Zoologia, Barcelona: MCNC-Cord
• Marine Science Institute, UCSB, Paleobiology Database
• Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
• New Brunswick Museum, NBM birds
• OZCAM
• Provider, Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums
• Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
• Senckenberg, Collection Aves
• Senckenberg, Collection Aves
• Senckenberg, Collection Aves
• SysTax, Zoologisches Forschungsinstitut und Museum Alexander Koenig, Bonn
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Herts Bird Club - Hertfordshire Breeding Bird Atlas : 1988-1992
• UK National Biodiversity Network, Scottish Borders Biological Records Centre - SWT Scottish Borders Local Wildlife Site Survey data 1996-2000 - species information
• UNIBIO, IBUNAM, CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
• University of Gdansk, Bird Migration Research Station, Ringing Data from the Bird Migration Research Station, University of Gdańsk
• University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
• , Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3852504
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-177853
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13851940
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 177851
• IUCN ID: 48495
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABNSA01010
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 178108

Footnotes

1. Mean = 767.960 meters (2,519.554 feet), Standard Deviation = 687.910 based on 12,260 observations. Altitude information for each observation from British Oceanographic Data Centre. [back]

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