No Hoots For Barn Owls

#FunFactFriday Did you know Barn Owls will hiss or bark instead of the classic hoot of an owl?

Their calls are raspy and they cannot make the hoot noise that all owls are associated with. This means you might have heard a Barn Owl and didn't even realize it! They prefer to hunt in open meadows where they can more easily see their prey using their excellent night vision. Barn Owls are also the best at hunting using only their hearing of any animal studied. Their senses are primed for seeking out rodents hidden under vegetation or snow in the pitch black of the night.

Barn Owls can be found worldwide, but the largest subspecies of barn owl (out of the 46 that are known) are the ones we have here in North America. They are almost twice the size of their cousins from the Galapagos Islands.

Since most owls don't build their own nests (and will usually reuse nests that other birds of similar size have previously made), one way to support owl populations is to install an owl nest box on your property, which OSS is happy to help with!