The Barn Owl has to be one of the Peak District’s most stunningly beautiful Birds Of Prey. They are elusive and secretive, silent and majestic, and they send shivers up your arms if you’re lucky enough to see one all alone, floating on the dawn mist. Along with their cousins the Little Owl, it’s not unusual to see a Barn Owl in broad daylight, a fact not many know, imagining them night hunters like their close relations. They have been known, particularly at dawn or at dusk, to be seen swooping over the limestone walls or farmland littered with livestock, soundlessly going about their business on the silent wings. They really are the ghosts of the Peak District skies, soaring effortlessly but with deadly intentions if you’re a small vole or mammal.
Barn owls don’t actually hoot like other owls and instead emit a long, eerie screech giving it the alternative name of a ‘Screech Owl’. Not only this, but these majestic Birds Of Prey, have been known to actually hiss, snore and yap! They have exceptional hearing and find prey by sound alone rather than by eyesight, such as a kestrel would. As well as rodents, they eat other small mammals such as young rabbits and moles and they can also catch frogs and small birds.
With the scientific name ‘Tyto alba’, their common names are the ‘Common Barn Owl’, ‘Screech Owl’ as we mentioned, or the ‘White Owl’ due to their pale and snow white underbellies. With their stunning heart shaped face, they have a buff back and wings, mixtures of beiges, greys and peach contrasting perfectly against their pure white under parts. They are paler in the UK than they are in any other part of the world and are a very distinctive and much loved countryside bird- probably due to how impossibly pretty they are. Many Peak District artists class the Barn Owl as one of their favourite Birds Of Prey to capture on canvas and they certainly all manage to capture the bird beautifully. The Barn Owl adorns prints, greetings cards and gifts and can be found in shops all over Derbyshire.
(Note -In this image there are actually 4 in the shot – one is behind the rest peeking out of the slit in the wall – The photographer was shaking as he took the shot as he had never in his life seen 4 owls together before)
Barn Owl numbers have unfortunately suffered a decline throughout the 20th century, just like lots of our beautiful Birds of Prey, due to changes in habitat, new farming practises and man’s ability to build, but it has also been badly affected by the types of pesticides used in the 1950s and 1960s. Numbers do seem to be on the rise slowly and steadily though thankfully, and there are many conservation groups and volunteers who concentrate solely on providing owl boxes to help provide as much shelter for them as possible from the recent cold winters we’ve been experiencing here in Derbyshire.
The best place to see a Barn Owl is in open countryside, along field edges or riverbanks, but they have also been spotted over the Peak District moors and roadside verges. It’s possible to see them all year round, as they live with us most of the time, searching for mice, voles and shrews. As we said earlier, it’s also possible to see them in daylight but the best time is usually dusk, when the land is growing silent for the day, or early dawn, before we’ve all woken up and encroached in their space.
There are known to be 3 to 5000 breeding pairs resident in the UK and we have 12,500 to 25,000 birds overwintering according to the RSPB. It’s pale, long winged; long legged form makes it unique to identify with its short squarish tale, its size and plumage. It measures about 25 to 50 cm in overall length and its wingspan is 75- 210 cm in this country. The light-coloured face with its very distinct heart shape and jet black eyes give this gorgeous Peak District Bird Of Prey a sort of startling appearance to some, like a flat mask with oversized black eye slits, but to others it’s just dazzling.. With the mass of feathers above its bill, it often looks like it has a human nose.
The ‘Barn Owl’ is the most widely distributed species of owl and it forms one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the ‘Typical owls’ such as the Eurasian Eagle Owl, Tawny Owl And Little Owl. It can be found almost anywhere in the world except polar desert regions, and most of Indonesia.
The Barn Owl is known by many other names which refer to its appearance, its call, its habitat or it’s eerily silent flight. Some of the names it clearly doesn’t deserve such as ‘Demon Owl’, ‘Death Owl’, ‘Rat Owl’ Or ‘Hobgoblin’ More attractive and fitting names are ‘The Silver Owl’, ‘The Ghost Owl’, ‘The Golden Owl’ or ‘The Delicate Owl.’ – Much more appropriate we feel!
Whatever name you decide to go with, there is no doubt they are spectacular birds and it is a real experience if you do get the chance to see one, and a moment you won’t forget for a long time. The Barn owl is a wildlife photographer’s dream and a must to tick off their list. To be able to capture a barn owl on camera is the best feeling in the world. Not only are they so photogenic, they’re also so elusive. Patience is key, but they provide a challenge and a privilege once they’ve allowed their photograph to be taken – and then we all get the pleasure to see them too!
