Tyto alba
The barn owl is easily recognized by its heart-shaped facial disc and dark eyes. The owl's back is covered with a honey-golden color contrasting with a cinnamon-white chest and belly. It is a tall owl at 20 inches with a wing span of 46 inches.
The barn owl, like other owls, is a hunter of the night, catching and feeding on rodents. However, the deepening snows make finding prey more difficult. Many barn owls can be seen hunting during the day, particularly along the edges of plowed roadways.
Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area currently has numerous barn owls hunting the dikes.
The barn owl is particularly suited for agricultural areas. Many farmers erect barn owl boxes to attract them to their area, helping to keep rodent populations under control. There are barn owls using boxes for nesting and roosting at the hay pole barn on Antelope Island State Park near the bison corrals.
They can triangulate sound to locate rodents with pinpoint accuracy in total darkness. Barn owls, like other owls, cast up pellets of undigested body parts of their prey.
Barn owls can be seen in most of the lower 48 states and all of Utah. Occasionally, barn owls can be found hunting during the day when snow is deep. They hunt roadways that have been plowed.
They are declining in some parts of their range due to habitat loss where farmland is being converted into subdivisions.
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* BILL FENIMORE is owner of the Layton Wild Bird Center. Join the Wild Bird Center's free bird walk to see bald eagles on Eagle Day, Feb. 9 at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, leaving from the store at 10 a.m. Call 801-525-8400 or visit www. wildbird.com/layton for more information.
