Barn owl

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Barn owl
Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

Barn Owl ( Tyto alba )

Systematics
Class : Birds (aves)
Order : Owls (Strigiformes)
Family : Barn Owls (Tytonidae)
Subfamily : Barn Owls (Tytoninae)
Genre : Barn Owls ( Tyto )
Type : Barn owl
Scientific name
Tyto alba
( Scopoli , 1769)

The Barn Owl ( Tyto alba ) is a bird art from the order of Owls (Strigiformes) and the family of barn owls (Tytonidae). The barn owl is a very light-colored, long-legged owl that has no feather ears . Their most striking distinguishing features include their heart-shaped face and their relatively small, black eyes. It is nocturnal and during the day can only be observed in its resting places and at the breeding site.

The barn owl occurs as a breeding bird in many regions of the world. It is absent from the tundra, tropical rainforests, and large parts of Asia and the deserts. In Central Europe, it is a widespread and frequent breeding bird, which occurs mainly in lowland settlement areas with few trees.

description

The 33-35 centimeters long, brightly colored, long-winged and long-legged owl reaches a wingspan of 85 to 95 centimeters and has quite short tail feathers. Males and females are very similar to each other, but females are generally slightly larger than the male and slightly darker in color. The weight ranges from around 200 grams for the smallest forms (such as on the Galápagos Islands) to over 500 grams for the North American barn owl, European barn owls weigh between 300 grams (males) to around 400 grams (females).

The pronounced heart-shaped face veil that gives it its name is very light, depending on the subspecies, it is white to light gray or slightly rusty red. The top of the body is usually golden brown with fine gray spots. The underside can vary from a very pure white to a light brown, and the markings and stains of the individual subspecies are very different from one another. The beak is pale yellow, the claws are horn-colored, the irises of the eyes are dark brown to black. The toes are almost featherless and dark gray-brown.

In contrast to other owls, the nestlings have two consecutive downy clothes : The first downy dress is white and short. It is almost completely missing on the sides of the neck. After about twelve days, a thicker and longer downy dress follows, which is gray on the upper side and yellowish on the lower side. The eyes open from the eighth day. The iris is initially blue and turns dark brown over the course of four weeks. The beak is whitish-pink when it hatches, but quickly turns gray. The toes are pink-yellow at the beginning and have a dark gray color by the time the young owls fled their wings.

distribution

Distribution of the barn owl

The barn owl inhabits the temperate, subtropical and tropical zones of Africa , Europe , Southwest and South Asia , Australia , South America and North America . This makes it one of the most widespread bird species. In Europe, the barn owl occurs northward to Scotland and Denmark , to the east to the Ukraine . In Europe and North America, the northern limit of distribution is in areas with an annual average temperature between six and eight degrees Celsius.

Subspecies

Currently, over 30 subspecies of the barn owl have been described, which differ in appearance and behavior. The number of subspecies varies depending on the author, Schneider and Eck (1995) give 34 subspecies, Mebs and Scherzinger more than 30 without obligation. In their owl monograph, published in 2008, Claus König and Friedlhelm Weick assign a species status to numerous subspecies, so that only 10 subspecies belong to the species. Above all, they raised the numerous forms that were limited to a few islands, such as the Cape Verde and Galapagos Barn Owls, to the status of species. They justify this with more recent findings from a molecular-biological point of view and point out that a reorganization is foreseeable for the entire genus of barn owls.

The following subspecies are based on Schneider & Eck (1995). In the case of forms that have been developed by König et al. (2008) are classified as an independent species or as a subspecies of an independent species, this is indicated accordingly:

Barn Owl in flight
  • The Mediterranean barn owl ( T. a. Alba ) is widespread in southern and western Europe including Great Britain and in North Africa. The chest of the animals is white, sometimes with small dark speckles.
  • The Central European Barn Owl ( T. a. Guttata ) is the form with the northernmost distribution area in Europe. It lives in Southeastern and Central Europe and is distributed here from southern Scandinavia to Turkey . The ventral side is yellowish-brown, and the veil is also a little darker.
  • The Sardinian-Corsican barn owl ( T. a. Ernesti ) is a form from Sardinia and Corsica with a white underside. In this form, the upper plumage is also very light, and the wing undersides and the face veil are pure white. Noticeable is a rust-red stain in front of the eyes.
  • The Arabian barn owl ( T. a. Erlangeri ) inhabits Southwest Asia ( Cyprus , the Arabian Peninsula as well as Iran and Iraq ) and also has a white underside, sometimes interspersed with black-brown dots. The wings are light-colored and the tail feathers show ash-gray bands and a gray-marbled end band.
  • The African barn owl ( T. a. Affinis ) is widespread across the entire African continent with the exception of the Sahara and the Central African jungle. In comparison with the European forms, it has relatively long and not very feathered toes or legs. The underside of this form is rusty yellow, otherwise the males are white in the basic color, the females are ocher yellow. The upper plumage as well as the sides bear a drawing of arrow- to drop-shaped dark brown points and lines.
  • The Madagascar barn owl ( T. a. Hypermetra ) is only found in Madagascar , the Comoros and the Aldabra Atoll. It is significantly larger than the African mainland form, but it is similar in color.
  • The Madeira Barn Owl ( T. a. Schmitzi ) is endemic to Madeira . In this form, the underside is cream-colored to yellowish-white and coarsely spotted. The head is a little darker and slightly rust-red in color, the veil is white. The upper plumage is very light and resembles that of the Mediterranean form with coarse black and white spots.
  • The Canarian Barn Owl ( T. a. Gracilirostris ) from the Canary Islands is relatively small and has a very slender beak. The underside is rusty yellow and roughly spotted, the upper side is light with arrowhead-like drawing.
  • The Cape Verde barn owl ( T. a. Dedorta ) lives on the Cape Verde islands of Santiago and São Vicente . The veil and the ventral side are colored relatively dark yellow, the upper side is also dark with very large black and white spots. The tail feathers are sharply banded. It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The São Tomé barn owl ( T. a. Thomensis ) is native to the island of São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea . The top of this shape is very dark, ranging from gray to almost black with black and white spots. The face veil is brown, the underside is golden brown and can be marked with coarse or fine spots. It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The Indian barn owl ( T. a. Stertens ) is found in Western India , Sri Lanka , Assam and northern Myanmar . The top is pale gray and brown-yellow in color with fine black and white dots, the underside is white to slightly brownish-yellow with many small dots.
  • The distribution area of ​​the Javanese barn owl ( T. a. Javanica ) adjoins that of the previous subspecies, the borders are overlapping. It can be found in the entire area of Southeast Asia and Indonesia . The color is similar to that of the Indian barn owl, but this form is a little darker and more spotted.
  • The Andaman Barn Owl ( T. a. Deroepstorffi ) lives exclusively on the Andamans . It has very pronounced and strong toes and is strikingly colored by the large rust-brown spots on the gray upper side. This makes it the darkest of all island shapes. The underside is light ocher with dark brown spots. It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The Kisar Barn Owl ( T. a. Kuehni ) occurs only on the island of Kisar in the Sunda Archipelago. It is similar to the Indian barn owl in color, but is ocher yellow on top and has wider black spots. The underside is tinted brown and cross-banded.
  • The Sawu Barn Owl ( T. a. Everetti ) is endemic to the small island of Sawu, west of Timor . It resembles the shape of Kisar, is only slightly smaller and has less pronounced toes and a slimmer beak.
  • The Sumba Barn Owl ( T. a. Sumbaensis ) from the island of Sumba is white underneath and has characteristic pale, almost white tail feathers. It is listed in recent literature as a subspecies of the Australian barn owl.
  • The New Guinea Barn Owl ( T. a. Meeki ) mainly inhabits the northern and western parts of New Guinea . It is white to silver-white underneath, the upper plumage and the tail are also very light. It is listed in recent literature as a subspecies of the Australian barn owl.
  • The Australian barn owl ( T. a. Delicatula ) is found on the entire Australian continent, also on Tasmania and some offshore islands. It is white on the underside and gray on the top with a brownish tone. It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The Boang Barn Owl ( T. a. Crassirostris ) on the island of Boang ( Tanga Islands ) in the Bismarck Archipelago is similar to the Australian form, but has a more powerful beak and stronger catches. The color is a little darker. It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The Santa Cruz Barn Owl ( T. a. Interposita ) lives on the Santa Cruz Islands , the Banks Islands, and the northern New Hebrides . In this form, the plumage is dominated by orange-ocher shades. It is listed in recent literature as a subspecies of the Australian barn owl.
  • The Samoa barn owl ( T. a. Lulu ) is found on the Society Islands , Tonga , Fiji , New Caledonia , the southern New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands as well as on Samoa . It is similar to the Australian shape, but is slightly smaller and each individual back feather has a black tip with a white center.
  • The North American barn owl ( T. a. Pratincola ) lives mainly in the southern USA and northern Mexico . With a wing length of up to 370 millimeters and a total length of almost 430 millimeters, it is a very large barn owl. The top of the animals is light to dark orange, sometimes with gray admixtures, the underside is pale orange to white and marked with distinctive brown tips. It is classified as a subspecies of the American barn owl in recent literature.
  • The Guatemala barn owl ( T. a. Guatemalae ) lives in Central America in the area of ​​West Guatemala , San Salvador , West Nicaragua and Panama . It is darker than the North American form, but resembles it in the drawing.
  • The American barn owl ( T. a. Furcata ) is found in the islands of the Caribbean . It is almost entirely white with a pale orange top. The white tail is sometimes banded across and the pure white underside may have small spots. It is classified in more recent literature as an independent species, to which a total of six subspecies belong. As Tyto furcata furcata , it represents the nominate form.
  • The Hispaniola barn owl ( T. a. Glaucops ) lives on Île de la Tortue and the eastern part of Haiti in the Greater Antilles . It is also white, but has zigzag lines on the underside and a characteristic gray face. Some authors classify this subspecies as an independent species.
  • The Bahamian barn owl ( T. a. Lucyana ) of the Bahamas is similar to the North American mainland form. The nibs are, however, provided with gray-black points.
  • The Lesser Antilles Barn Owl ( T. a. Insularis ) lives exclusively in the Lesser Antilles . It is relatively small and dark in color and has eye-shaped spots on the underside and a white “scribble” on the top. It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The Dominica barn owl ( T. a. Nigrescens ) from the island of Dominica (also Lesser Antilles) is very similar to the form described above, but has no eye spots . It is also classified as a subspecies of the Lesser Antilles barn owl in more recent literature.
  • The Curaçao Barn Owl ( T. a. Barbei ) from the island of Curaçao (also Lesser Antilles) is pure white underneath with coarse spotting. It is more similar to the European forms than to those of the other neighboring islands. Some authors now classify it as an independent species.
  • The Galápagos Barn Owl ( T. a. Punctatissima ) is similar in color to the shape of Dominka. With a wing length of around 230 millimeters, it is one of the smallest barn owls. The color is very dark, matt brown with white spots. It breeds in subterranean lava tunnels on the Galápagos Island of Santa Cruz . It is listed as an independent species in more recent literature.
  • The Peruvian barn owl ( T. a. Contempta ) lives in Peru , Ecuador , Venezuela and Colombia . The top of this shape is dark gray to brown with pale gray spots. The underside is pale rust brown with a pattern of irregular brown cross-shaped spots. The veil is also pale brown. It is classified in more recent literature as a subspecies of the American barn owl.
  • The Colombian barn owl ( T. a. Subandeana ) lives in some areas of Colombia and Ecuador. It is similar to the aforementioned species, but has a less noticeable pattern on the ventral side.
  • The Brazilian barn owl ( T. a. Tuidara ) is widespread in Brazil and Argentina from the Amazon region to the southern tip of Patagonia . It resembles the Central European barn owl in its appearance, but has longer legs. It is classified in more recent literature as a subspecies of the American barn owl.
  • The Guiana Barn Owl ( T. a. Hellmayri ) lives in Suriname , French Guiana and Guyana, as well as in northern Brazil. It is brightly colored and white underneath with black speckles, but some individuals are also rusty yellow on the underside. Otherwise it resembles the Brazilian barn owl in the drawing. It is classified in more recent literature as a subspecies of the American barn owl.
  • The Chilean barn owl ( T. a. Hauchecornei ) lives in Chile and is outwardly similar to the other South American forms.

habitat

The barn owl colonizes all habitats in its huge range except closed rainforests, the interior of deserts and montane areas. Semi-open landscapes such as savannahs , semi-deserts and tree -steppes are preferred. In Central Europe, as a cultural successor , it populates almost exclusively the open agricultural landscape with village settlements. Above all, barns and church towers are used as breeding grounds, and more rarely also tree hollows. The long wings and gliding flight are adaptations to hunting in open terrain. During her resting time during the day she sits in hidden places in barns, ruins, tree hollows or crevices in the rock. Barn owls are fairly loyal to their place and remain in their ancestral areas for a very long time, even in severe winters with a high snow cover. Together with the comparatively poor utilization of food and the low fat storage, this less pronounced tendency to evacuate the weather in Central Europe in severe winters often leads to population collapses, which can lead to the extinction of regional deposits.

behavior

Food and hunting behavior

The barn owl mainly hunts small mammals at dusk and at night . In 47 of 52 studies from the entire range of the species, small rodents made up at least half of all prey. Even in central Australia , the barn owl's prey now consists of 97% house mice , which were involuntarily naturalized as neozoa by the Europeans who emigrated there . Bats , rats and small rabbits , birds , reptiles , frogs and insects can play an important role locally or regionally. In Europe, the prey consists mainly of voles , real mice and shrews .

In unfavorable weather conditions as well as when rearing young, it extends its hunting season to the day. The prey is located optically and acoustically. The face veil increases the collection of sounds for the hearing and shields other sounds. Because of this ability, it uses practically all nocturnal and noise-making small mammals in its territory as food.

During the hunt, it often only glides a few meters above the ground; their flight is almost noiseless. Flow noises while flying are avoided by the comb-like toothed outer flag of the foremost hand wing and by a dense, soft down on the top of all wings. Observations suggest that it adheres to regular flight routes when hunting and particularly flies along hedges , fences and ditches. Here she finds more prey than on other cultivated land. If it discovers prey during the fighter flight, it suddenly falls down from the flight and grabs the prey with its clawed toes. The turning toe prevents the prey from escaping. Less often it sits on posts or tree stumps and slides down silently when prey appears.

Rest and comfort behavior

The barn owl spends the day mainly sitting motionless and dozing in its resting place, which is often protected from disturbances and hidden. In addition to being free from interference, this daytime rest area must also offer darkening and protection from the weather. Depending on the habitat, it can be in an old barn, a hollow tree, on a covered embankment or in a rock cave. The owls stand upright on beams, thick branches or stone surfaces, often with a possibility to lean on. During the courtship and breeding season, the transfer site is close to the nesting site, with the two parent animals usually sitting close together. After laying eggs, the male again looks for a place with some distance from the nest.

Before the start of activity at dusk, the owls stretch and shake each other. Thereafter, they brush extensively with the aid of a " grooming claw formed" and serrated middle toe and with its beak, the feathers by a secretion of Bürzeldrüse is greased the beak ( " comfort level "). During the mating season there is also mutual care of the plumage, in which the veil, head and neck area are petted with the beak. Water baths or rain showers regularly supplement body care, and morning sunbathing has also been observed.

Social and enemy behavior

Adult barn owls are mostly solitary animals who, with the exception of the courtship and mating season, rarely go near other barn owls. Couples often stand next to each other and also perform mutual grooming as described above. The territory behavior of the barn owl is not very pronounced, so you can often find several animals or breeding pairs in relatively close proximity. The males even tolerate their own mates for wintering. Especially during the breeding season, however, there is an increased defense of the breeding area, in which the males can pursue intruders and even attack them. Nevertheless, the hunting areas of neighboring breeding pairs often overlap over a large area.

While the female is breeding, the male very often tries to attract other partners and bring them to mate ( polygyny ). This sometimes leads to the formation of broods of several females at the same nesting site or at different nesting sites in the male's territory. Mating a female with several males ( polyandry ) is also possible, but less common. There can be several broods of a female, with the first brood being looked after by the male, or single broods with several males at one nest.

Barn Owl ( Tyto alba )

The hostile behavior of the barn owls consists primarily of a pronounced enemy avoidance. The owls are usually well hidden and camouflaged on their stand, reinforced by their upright resting position. When disturbed, most barn owls run into hiding or press closer to the existing structures of the hide. In extreme cases, the owls flee and spray their enemy with their liquid droppings . Young birds and harassed adult birds that cannot escape threaten their opponent in a threatening position with their wings outstretched and presented and their bodies bent over. They utter loud screams and launch mock attacks. Flightless young birds and captured barn owls defend themselves mainly by slamming their claws, more rarely by bites. If they lie on their backs, they often remain motionless with their eyes closed ( freezing fear ).

Reproduction

Influence of the food supply on reproduction

Call of a barn owl

Area calls and courtship flights often set in from February to April. The beginning of the breeding mood and the courtship depends on the food supply. If the population of field mice is low, 60 percent of the adult birds do not brood. In good mouse years , however, there can be up to three, then mostly nested broods per season.

Brood

Gelege, Museum Wiesbaden collection
Barn owl chicks

Natural breeding grounds in caves are the exception in Central Europe. The barn owl usually breeds in buildings, for example church towers , castles , ruins or barns. The three to twelve eggs laid about two days apart are incubated by the female for about 30 days. It begins to breed from the very first egg, so that the young birds hatch with the laying distances. The female breeds and hounds alone, until the youngest is around three weeks old, the male alone provides the food. The young birds, of different sizes, can fledge after about two months. The young birds change from their down dress directly into the plumage of the adult animals.

Young barn owls begin to practice their hunting techniques from the age of 31. In a morning and evening activity phase, they run around up to two meters - provided the breeding site offers enough space - and practice “ mouse jumps ”. From the 39th day of life, the urge to be active increases even further.

With optimal breeding sites such as a barn or the attic of a church tower, they leave the narrow breeding space for hours and explore their immediate habitat. From the 44th day of life they train around two meters wide flutter jumps.

Migration movements of young birds

The young birds migrate in autumn; Ring find evaluations show that around two thirds of all migration movements end within a radius of 50 km from the place of birth. However, the hikes can also be considerably longer. Birds ringed in Baden-Württemberg were found again in their first year of life, for example on the Dutch coast, in southern France or in Spain. Very strong migratory movements occur whenever very high barn owl populations coincide with a collapse of the field mouse population. In years in which field mice reproduce very strongly ( gradation ), the young birds settle in close proximity to their parent animals.

Age

The maximum age of barn owls living in the wild is sometimes given as around 20 years, but ringing has so far proven a maximum age of at least 17 years and eleven months for an animal ringed in the Netherlands. The maximum age of 15 years and three months for an animal was reported from Germany.

Endangerment in Central Europe

After the barn owl, as an inhabitant of the tree steppes, was probably favored by human culture in its spread in Central Europe, it has become significantly rarer in the last few decades. The decline is mainly due to the intensification of this cultural activity and land use in recent history, which have negatively affected or destroyed the habitat and breeding grounds of the barn owl. In particular, modern arable farming has indirectly restricted the habitats of barn owls by restricting the habitats for field and voles: With the cultivation methods used today, the straw is cleared from the fields very shortly after harvest and the stubble is plowed. Larger field mouse populations can no longer survive under these conditions. Contiguous strips of wasteland, which offer small mammals sufficient living space, can only be found along roads in many areas due to land consolidation measures. Barn owls therefore prefer to use them as a hunting area, with the result that barn owls are increasingly becoming traffic victims.

The building policy with new housing developments in the surrounding area of ​​the cities has also resulted in the barn owls losing their habitat. Local habitats with orchards , cottage gardens and hedges, which represent a smooth transition from cities to fields, are rarely found today. Today, new housing estates are mostly directly adjacent to fields that are used intensively for agriculture. Barn owls no longer colonize these areas, even if they offer sufficient breeding places. In a study by the Institute for Ecology and Nature Conservation in 1987 it was recorded for Baden-Württemberg that areas such as the central Neckar Valley , the Esslingen / Plochingen / Stuttgart area , the greater area around the city of Ludwigsburg , the Filder plateau and the Böblingen / Sindelfingen / Herrenberg can no longer be classified as suitable for veil owls.

Barn owls prefer to breed close to humans and use barns, stables and church towers, among other things. The traditional " Uhlenlöcher " is not used in modern stables ; Town center renovations led to the demolition of old buildings with barn owls breeding grounds, and church towers - which used to be a frequent breeding ground for barn owls - were increasingly barred and barn owls are no longer accessible. A study of 390 parishes in Baden-Württemberg shows that between 1947 and 1982 72% of the parishes rebuilt their church towers in such a way that they were no longer accessible to barn owls. This development has intensified especially since the 1960s; Modern bell ringing systems should be protected from owl droppings, and feral domestic pigeons should not be given a breeding opportunity. Due to the decline in barns and the clean separation of grain and straw through modern harvesting techniques, the number of house mice in farm buildings has decreased significantly. In winter, barn owls can no longer find house mice and die, even in buildings that are still accessible. In the past, house mice provided sufficient food in agricultural buildings even in snowy areas.

Despite these endangerment factors, the barn owl is not considered endangered in Germany.

Duration

Portrait of a barn owl

The worldwide population of the barn owl is estimated by the IUCN at around 4.9 million animals. The species is considered "not endangered".

The total European population at the beginning of the 21st century is around 110,000 to 220,000 breeding pairs. About 90 percent of the population lives west of the 3 ° C January isotherm. European distribution centers are Spain, where between 50,000 and 90,000 pairs breed, and France with 20,000 to 60,000 breeding pairs. 18,000 to 28,000 pairs breed in Central Europe, more than 60 percent of them in German territory.

The barn owl is considered to be one of the species that will be affected by climate change. A research team that, on behalf of the British Environmental Protection Agency and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, examined the future development of the distribution of European breeding birds on the basis of climate models, assumes that by the end of the 21st century the range of the barn owl will increase significantly to the northeast will expand. The south of Fennoscandinavia and parts of Iceland are among the potential new areas of distribution for the barn owl . On the other hand, according to these forecasts, large parts of the current range of the species in the European south will no longer offer suitable habitats. At the same time it is assumed that the distribution area up to Poland will be significantly more fragmented.

Protective measures

In many areas, protective measures, in particular the installation of nest boxes, have led to a recovery of the populations, so that optimal barn owl habitats are currently well populated again. The stock figures of the 1950s have not yet been reached again.

For successful protective measures, a better understanding of the breeding biology of the barn owl was necessary. Based on infrared recordings and observations of captured barn owls, it is known that in too narrow nest boxes the droppings quickly stick together the plumage of the young birds. The young birds there also lack the space in which they can train their hunting techniques, so that these birds are far less able to survive the first period of their independence. It is also important that the young birds have additional shelter options near the breeding site. Barn owls start a second brood early if there is enough food, and the adult birds drive away the young birds very quickly. In the first few days, these need protected resting places near the breeding site.

Since the 1970s , measures have been taken to dismantle the church towers, in particular, to make them suitable for barn owls or to make them accessible again. Construction methods were developed that on the one hand protect valuable construction facilities from owl droppings and at the same time prevent wild domestic pigeons from settling. The advantage here is that barn owls can already accept very narrow entry openings of only 15 cm × 20 cm. An adjoining breeding room with a size of at least 2 m × 2 m ensures that the young birds have sufficient space.

Despite these advances in protective measures, the barn owl is still missing in some areas after the cold winters of the 1960s and 1970s. This applies, for example, to large parts of Austria. The encroachments on the barn owl's habitats cannot be compensated for by creating suitable nesting aids. However, the barn owl benefits from new hedges and from the protection of the remaining orchards . Set-aside programs on agricultural land have a positive effect by reducing negative marginal zone influences such as drift of fertilizer and pesticides and thus by improving habitat structures such as hedges, ditches, and individual trees.

Breed barn owls have been released into the wild in various areas to promote the population. So were z. B. in Langstadt from 1976 to 1986 74 barn owls bred in zoos were released into the wild.

Human and barn owl

Uhlenloch in a thatched roof

As a hunter of mice and rats , the barn owl is valued by farmers in many parts of Central Europe . Traditionally built barns and stables therefore have so-called owl doors or owl holes (Uhlenloch or Uhlenflucht) in many regions , which give the birds access to suitable breeding grounds.

However, there is also a lot of superstition associated with the millennia-long cultural follower . An owl nailed to the barn door is supposed to avert harm from the yard and protect it from lightning strikes and fire. In some regions their call heralds death , in other regions owl cries also indicate an impending birth.

The superstition usually does not differentiate between the individual owl species. Since the barn owl, with its preferred breeding site in barns, stables, ruins and church towers, lives as a species in the closest proximity to humans, it was or is most likely to be involved in superstitious rituals. In Africa and India, barn owls are used as part of black and white magic .

The barn owl's high-precision acoustic tracking system is used in research as a model system for directional hearing . The barn owl was bird of the year in Germany in 1977 . In addition, the barn owl is the heraldic animal of the Saarland University .

literature

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Collin Harrison and Peter Castell: Field Guide Bird Nests, Eggs and Nestlings , HarperCollins Publisher, revised edition from 2002, ISBN 0007130392 , p. 199
  2. ↑ König et al., P. 209
  3. ↑ a b König et al., P. 215
  4. ↑ König et al., P. 216
  5. ↑ König et al., P. 217
  6. ↑ a b c d König et al., P. 219
  7. ↑ König et al., P. 218
  8. ↑ a b c d e f König et al., P. 212
  9. ↑ König et al., P. 213
  10. ↑ König et al., P. 214
  11. ↑ König, p. 214
  12. ↑ Einhard Bezzel: Birds. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-405-14736-0 , p. 305
  13. ↑ Fransson et al. a. in Fiedler, W., O. Geiter & U. Köppen: Messages from the ringing centers, Vogelwelt 49 (2011), page 36
  14. ^ Fiedler, W., O. Geiter & U. Köppen: Messages from the ringing centers, Vogelwelt 49 (2011), page 36
  15. ↑ Thomas Brandt, Christian Seebaß: The barn owl. Aula-Verlag, Wiesbaden 1994, pp. 128-129.
  16. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 693
  17. ↑ Bauer et al., P. 693.
  18. ^ Brian Huntley, Rhys E. Green, Yvonne C. Collingham, Stephen G. Willis: A Climatic Atlas of European Breeding Birds , Durham University, The RSPB and Lynx Editions, Barcelona 2007, ISBN 978-84-96553-14-9 , P. 249
  19. ↑ Theodor Mebs , Wolfgang Scherzinger : The Owls of Europe. Biology, characteristics, stocks. Kosmos, Stuttgart 2008 [2. Ed.] P. 104
  20. ↑ Otto Diehl: Experience report on the release of barn owls born in zoological gardens - Tyto alba . In: Staatliche Vogelschutzwarte: Festschrift der Vogelschutzwarte . Frankfurt a. Main 1987. pp. 114-125.
  21. ↑ Heimo Mikkola: Handbook Eulen der Welt , p. 78
  22. ↑ Charles Day (2001): Researchers uncover the neural details of how Barn Owls locate sound sources . ( Memento from December 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Tyto alba  - collection of images, videos and audio files
This version was added to the list of excellent articles on January 9, 2005 .