Barn Owls

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Barn Owls


Names
Common Name:	Barn Owls
Scientific Name:	Tyto alba or Tyto furcata
Appearance
Brown or tan colored (often speckled) with white, heart shaped faces, white chests, and dark black eyes.
Behavior
Native to the Forest Kingdom of Tyto. Barn Owls are rarer than some other Owl species and sometimes inhabit churches or barns.

Barn Owls, or Tytos, are owls with heart shaped faces and that are fairly large in size. The Forest Kingdom of Tyto is a kingdom that many Barn Owls settle in, although many still live outside the area. There are other species like the Barn Owl in the genus Tyto, and the Pure Ones consider the it to be the best genus of owl, more specifically the Barn Owl. The other Tytos are Greater Sooty Owls, Lesser Sooty Owls, Masked Owls, Bay Owls, and Grass Owls.

Information[]

Description[]

The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is the most widely distributed species of owl, and one of the most widespread of all birds. It is also referred to as Common Barn Owl, to distinguish it from other species in the barn-owl family Tytonidae. These form one of two main lineages of living owls, the other being the typical owls (Strigidae).

It is known by many other names, which may refer to the appearance, call, habitat or the eerie, silent flight: White Owl, Silver Owl, Demon Owl, Ghost Owl, Death Owl, Night Owl, Rat Owl, Church Owl, Cave Owl, Stone Owl, Monkey-faced Owl, Hissing Owl, Hobgoblin or Hobby Owl, Dobby Owl, White-breasted Owl, Golden Owl, Screech Owl, Straw Owl, Barnyard Owl and Delicate Owl. "Golden Owl" might also refer to the related Golden Masked Owl (T. aurantia). "Hissing Owl" and, particularly in the UK and India, "screech owl" refer to the piercing calls of these birds, but it should be noted that this particular name is a misnomer and that the actual "screech owl" is a species unto itself: family "Strigidae" genus Megascops. The scientific name, established by G.A. Scopoli in 1769, literally means "white owl," from the onomatopoetic Ancient Greek tyto (τυτο) for an owl—compare English "hooter"—and Latin alba, "white.

While there is a size variation among the subspecies, the typical Barn Owl is 11-17 in (29-44 cm) in length, with a wingspan of 31-37 in (80-95 cm), and a weight ranging 7.9-25 oz (224-710 g) with females being heavier. Barn Owls living on islands tend to be smaller. The left ear is slightly above the eyes, while the right ear is slightly below. It has a pale heart-shaped face, black eyes, and a ridge of feathers above the beak resembling a nose.

The Barn Owl does not hoot, but instead produces a eerie, long-drawn-out shriek. They will also produce a snake-like hiss when disturbed.

Ecology[]

Barn Owls are nocturnal, but are sometimes seen at dusk and dawn. In the UK and some Pacific islands they will even by active in the day. They can be found in virtually all habitats, but prefer grasslands, farmlands, and open woodlands to forests. T. alba is found almost anywhere in the world except polar and desert regions, Asia north of the Alps, most of Indonesia, and the Pacific islands. Their predators include larger raptors, like eagles, Eagle-Owls, buzzards, and goshawks.

Diet and Feeding[]

Barn Owls eat mainly rodents, like mice, rats, voles, and gophers. They eat other small mammals, like rabbits, hares, and shrews. They also eat insects, and sometimes small birds. But their main preference is for small mammals. The use low perches like fence posts to seek prey. They use their acute sense of hearing to locate prey in the dark.

Reproduction[]

Barn Owls will breed any time during the year. They usually nest in tree holes, but will also use caves, abandoned buildings, or thick foliage. They also accept nest boxes. 3-6 eggs are laid at 2 day intervals. Incubation lasts 30-34 days. Chicks are brooded for 2 weeks, and fledge after 50-55 days. Barn Owls have an average life expectancy of 1-2 years in the wild.

Known Barn Owls[]

Spoiler Warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

History[]

The Capture[]

Soren and his family lived in the Forest Kingdom of Tyto with their blind nest-maid snake, Mrs. Plithiver, and the other Barn Owls in the region. Many Barn Owl eggs and owlets in the kingdom were being snatched, and when Kludd pushed Soren from the nest, Soren got captured by a St. Aegolius patrol and taken to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls, where many other owls had been taken, including other Barn Owls. Soren later escaped St. Aggie's, although none of the other Barn Owls did, and traveled with his friends, Gylfie, Soren, and Digger, to find the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. On the way, they stopped by the forest kingdom of Tyto and found out that Soren's family had disappeared.

The Journey[]

Soren and the band journeyed to the Great Ga'Hoole Tree to see if it was real. When they arrived at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree, they found the legends were true and many different owls lived there, including Barn Owls. Later in the book, when Soren and the band had settled into their chaws, an event occurred called the Great Downing. Many owlets were found on the forest floor far away from their nest, all Tytos who were in a trance-like state. Eglantine, Soren's sister, was one of the owlets who was found, and it is later revealed that the Pure Ones, a group of Tytos who thought they were supreme, were the ones who kidnapped the owlets and left them on the forest floor after St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls took them from the Pure Ones and dropped them on the ground during a fight.

The Rescue[]

Soren continued to train at the Great Ga'Hoole Tree to become a Guardian. When a hurricane forced his chaw to land at a spirit woods for the night, the scrooms of Soren's parents come to him, telling him to beware of Metal Beak. After visiting Bubo and the Rogue Smith of Silverveil, it was discovered that Metal Beak was an owl who got his face and beak torn off and was forced to wear a metal mask, and he led a band. Later, Eglantine had strange dreams that led to her recovering her lost memory of the Pure Ones, Tytos that Metal Beak led. In hope of finding Ezylryb, Soren's beloved mentor, the Chaw of Chaws discovered the base of the Pure Ones. When they discovered that a Devil's Triangle had been made, the Chaw of Chaws burned its three bags of flecks, which resulted in a battle with Metal Beak and a group of the Pure Ones. During the battle, Metal Beak was revealed to be Kludd, Soren's older brother, who then tried to kill him.

The Siege[]

Kludd, also known as Metal Beak, leader of the Pure Ones, survived the fight with his brother Soren and began a plan to conquer the Great Ga'Hoole Tree with his army of Tytos. Soren and the band were asked to infiltrate St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls and see if the Pure Ones had also infiltrated or if the leaders have found out more about flecks. They found out the Pure Ones have infiltrated it, and that some of the infiltrators were putting flecks inside the moss for the Barn Owl eggs, while the infiltrator turnfeathers were taking them out. After finding out that St. Aggie's still knew nothing about flecks, the Chaw of Chaws turned the Pure Ones' infiltrators against each other and escaped, only to find that the Pure Ones were about to invade the Great Ga'Hoole Tree. When the band gets back, war began for the Tree and the Guardians won the first few battles before they were trapped in their own home. After some underground work, Soren and the Guardians launched a pincer move against the Pure Ones and defeated them.

The Shattering[]

The Pure Ones were defeated and Eglantine, Soren's sister, began to have dreams about her mother still being alive. She began to have a close friendship with Ginger, a Barn Owl who was a member of the Pure Ones until she was injured in the siege on the Great Tree and taken prisoner there. Thanks to Ginger putting flecks in her nest, Eglantine began to go into a strange state and visit her dream mother she found in The Beaks, who, unknown to her, was Nyra, and gave her information about flecks. She and Ginger continued to go often without telling Soren, and one night, Primrose followed them and got captured by the Pure Ones. After her disappearance, Soren sensed something wrong with his sister, only to find out that she had been captured by the Pure Ones after discovering her dream mother was Nyra. Eglantine and Primrose faked their shattering and captured the Sacred Orb, or Kludd and Nyra's egg, at the same time that reinforcements from the Great Ga'Hoole Tree arrived. The two sides battled and the Guardians won, and the Sacred Orb is dropped and accidentally destroyed by Eglantine. After the battle, Soren was sent to the Northern Kingdoms because of the Pure Ones capturing St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls and he received Ezylryb's old battle claws as the keys to the Northern Kingdoms.