Barn Owl vs Common Nightingale
Tyto alba compared with Luscinia megarhynchos
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Barn Owl | Common Nightingale |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Tyto alba | Luscinia megarhynchos |
| Order | Strigiformes | Passeriformes |
| Family | Tytonidae | Muscicapidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 35.0 cm (13.8 in) | 16.5 cm (6.5 in) |
| Wingspan | 90.0 cm (35.4 in) | 25.0 cm (9.8 in) |
| Weight | 350.0 g (12.35 oz) | 21.0 g (0.74 oz) |
| Diet | Almost exclusively small mammals, especially voles and mice. Hunts using extraordinary hearing to locate prey … | Insects and larvae, supplemented with berries in autumn. Forages on or near the ground in … |
| Clutch Size | 2-16 | 4-5 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Shared Habitats
Barn Owl only
Common Nightingale only
None
Barn Owl
Open farmland, grasslands, and marshes. Nests in barns, church steeples, tree cavities, and purpose-built nest boxes.
Common Nightingale
Dense thickets, scrub, and undergrowth in deciduous woodland. Prefers areas with thick ground cover near water.
Song & Call Comparison
Barn Owl
An eerie, drawn-out rasping shriek 'shreeeeee' — not a hoot. Also gives hissing, snoring, and bill-snapping when disturbed. Chicks call with a persistent rasping hunger call.
Common Nightingale
Considered Europe's finest songster: an extraordinarily rich, loud, flute-like melody of bubbling trills, slow whistles, and a distinctive crescendo 'lu-lu-lu'. Sings day and night.
Geographic Range & Migration
Barn Owl
The most widespread owl and one of the most widespread land birds, found on every continent except Antarctica.
Common Nightingale
Breeds in Europe and western Asia. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa. A long-distance migrant crossing the Sahara.
Conservation Status
Barn Owl
Common Nightingale
How to Tell Them Apart
Barn Owl
Pale golden-buff upperparts with delicate grey mottling. Pure white heart-shaped face and white to pale buff underparts. Ghostly white appearance in flight.
Pale pinkish hooked bill nearly concealed by the facial disc
Common Nightingale
Plain warm brown upperparts with a rufous-chestnut tail. Pale greyish-white underparts. Unremarkable appearance belies its remarkable voice.
Thin, pointed, dark brown bill
About These Birds
Barn Owl
The barn owl has the most asymmetrical ears of any owl, giving it the finest auditory localization ability in the animal kingdom. It can catch prey in complete darkness using sound alone. The barn owl's distinctive heart-shaped face acts as a parabolic dish, funneling sound to its offset ears.
Common Nightingale
The common nightingale is celebrated as one of the finest songsters in the bird world, inspiring poets from Homer to Keats. Males sing complex phrases of over 250 different types, often at night during breeding season. Despite its famous song, the nightingale is a plain-looking bird that skulks in dense vegetation.