Barn Owl vs African Grass-owl
Tyto alba compared with Tyto capensis
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Barn Owl | African Grass-owl |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Tyto alba | Tyto capensis |
| Order | Strigiformes | Strigiformes |
| Family | Tytonidae | Tytonidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 35.0 cm (13.8 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 90.0 cm (35.4 in) | 59.9 cm (23.6 in) |
| Weight | 350.0 g (12.35 oz) | 430.6666666666667 g (15.19 oz) |
| Diet | Almost exclusively small mammals, especially voles and mice. Hunts using extraordinary hearing to locate prey … | -- |
| Clutch Size | 2-16 | 2-5 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Barn Owl
Open farmland, grasslands, and marshes. Nests in barns, church steeples, tree cavities, and purpose-built nest boxes.
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.
African Grass-owl
Geographic Range & Migration
Barn Owl
The most widespread owl and one of the most widespread land birds, found on every continent except Antarctica.
African Grass-owl
Conservation Status
Barn Owl
African Grass-owl
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
African Grass-owl
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.
African Grass-owl
The African Grass-owl weighs about 431g and inhabits tall grasslands and marshes of sub-Saharan Africa. Its heart-shaped facial disc funnels sound for highly accurate nocturnal hunting of rodents.