Tyto
Phodilus

Barn owls (family Tytonidae) are one of the two generally accepted families of owls, the other being the typical owls, Strigidae. They are medium to large sized owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long strong legs with powerful talons. The barn owls comprise two sub-families: the Tytoninae or Tyto owls (including the Common Barn Owl) and the Phodilinae or bay-owls.

The fossil record of the barn owls goes back to the Eocene, with the family eventually losing ground to the true owls after the radiation of rodents and owls during the Neogene epoch . Two sub-families are only known from the fossil record, the Necrobyinae and the Selenornithinae.

The barn owls are a wide ranging family, absent only from northern North America, Saharan Africa and large areas of Asia. They live in a wide range of habitats from deserts to forests, and from temperate latitudes to the tropics. The majority of the 16 recognized species of barn owls are poorly known, some, like the Madagascar Red Owl, have barely been seen or studied since their discovery, in contrast to the Common Barn Owl, which is one of the best known owl species in the world. However, some sub-species of the Common Barn Owl possible deserve to be a species, and are very poorly known.

5 species of barn owl are threatened, and some island species have gone extinct (like the species Tyto letocarti, known from the fossil record of New Caledonia). The barn owls are mostly nocturnal, and generally non-migratory, living in pairs or singly.

Description

The barn owls main characteristic is the heart-shaped facial disc, formed by stiff feathers which serve to amplify and locate the source of sounds when hunting. Further adaptations in the wing feathers eliminate sound caused by flying, aiding both the hearing of the owl listening for hidden prey and keeping the prey unaware of the owl. Barn owls overall are darker on the back than the front, usually a orange-brown colour, the front being a paler version of the back or mottled, although there is considerable variation even amongst species. The bay owls closely resemble the Tyto owls but have a divided facial disc, and tend to be smaller.

Species

Tytoninae

• Greater Sooty Owl Tyto tenebricosa
• Lesser Sooty Owl Tyto multipunctata
• Australian Masked Owl Tyto novaehollandiae
• New Britain Masked Owl Tyto aurantia
• Lesser Masked Owl Tyto sororcula
• Manus Owl Tyto manusi
• Taliabu Owl Tyto nigrobrunnea
• Minahassa Owl Tyto inexspectata
• Sulawesi Owl Tyto rosenbergii
• Australasian Grass Owl Tyto longimembris
• African Grass Owl Tyto capensis
• Ashy-faced Owl Tyto glaucops
• Madagascar Red Owl Tyto soumagnei
• Barn Owl Tyto alba

Phodilinae

• Oriental Bay Owl Phodilus badius
• Congo Bay Owl Phodilus prigoginei

References

• Handbook of the Birds of the World, Volume Five, Barn-owls to Hummingbirds; de Hoyo, Elliot and Sargatal, ISBN 84-87334-20-2