Barn Owl vs Keel-billed Toucan
Tyto alba compared with Ramphastos sulfuratus
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Barn Owl | Keel-billed Toucan |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Tyto alba | Ramphastos sulfuratus |
| Order | Strigiformes | Piciformes |
| Family | Tytonidae | Ramphastidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 35.0 cm (13.8 in) | 50.0 cm (19.7 in) |
| Wingspan | 90.0 cm (35.4 in) | 56.0 cm (22.0 in) |
| Weight | 350.0 g (12.35 oz) | 400.0 g (14.11 oz) |
| Diet | Almost exclusively small mammals, especially voles and mice. Hunts using extraordinary hearing to locate prey … | Primarily fruit, supplemented with insects, lizards, eggs, and nestlings. Uses its long bill to reach … |
| Clutch Size | 2-16 | 1-4 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Shared Habitats
Barn Owl only
Keel-billed Toucan only
None
Barn Owl
Open farmland, grasslands, and marshes. Nests in barns, church steeples, tree cavities, and purpose-built nest boxes.
Keel-billed Toucan
Tropical and subtropical lowland rainforests and forest edges from sea level to about 1,900 meters.
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.
Keel-billed Toucan
Produces a repeated frog-like croaking 'prrrek-prrrek' or 'terrio-terrio'. Not melodic; the call resembles a mechanical rattle or frog. Also gives bill-clattering.
Geographic Range & Migration
Barn Owl
The most widespread owl and one of the most widespread land birds, found on every continent except Antarctica.
Keel-billed Toucan
Southern Mexico through Central America to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela.
Conservation Status
Barn Owl
Keel-billed Toucan
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
Keel-billed Toucan
Black body with a bright yellow throat and chest. Red undertail coverts. The enormous bill is green with orange sides, a blue patch, and a red tip.
Enormous, lightweight, multicolored bill up to 15 cm long — green, orange, blue, and red
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.
Keel-billed Toucan
The keel-billed toucan is the national bird of Belize and one of the most recognizable birds in the Neotropics. Its oversized bill, which can be a third of its body length, is actually very light due to its hollow honeycomb structure. Toucans roost communally, with up to six adults squeezing into a single tree cavity.