Barn Owl vs American Barn-Owl
Tyto alba compared with Tyto furcata
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Barn Owl | American Barn-Owl |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Tyto alba | Tyto furcata |
| Order | Strigiformes | Strigiformes |
| Family | Tytonidae | Tytonidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Not Evaluated |
| Length | 35.0 cm (13.8 in) | — |
| Wingspan | 90.0 cm (35.4 in) | — |
| Weight | 350.0 g (12.35 oz) | 473.68333333333334 g (16.71 oz) |
| Diet | Almost exclusively small mammals, especially voles and mice. Hunts using extraordinary hearing to locate prey … | -- |
| Clutch Size | 2-16 | 1-7 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Shared Habitats
Barn Owl only
American Barn-Owl only
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.
American Barn-Owl
Geographic Range & Migration
Barn Owl
The most widespread owl and one of the most widespread land birds, found on every continent except Antarctica.
American Barn-Owl
Conservation Status
Barn Owl
American Barn-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
American Barn-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.
American Barn-Owl
The American Barn-Owl is a medium-large owl weighing around 474 g, recognized by its heart-shaped white facial disc and golden-buff upperparts. It hunts small mammals by night using exceptional low-light vision and acute hearing.