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Side-by-Side Comparison

Attribute	Barn Owl	Itombwe Owl
Scientific Name	Tyto alba	Tyto prigoginei
Order	Strigiformes	Strigiformes
Family	Tytonidae	Tytonidae
Conservation Status	Least Concern	Endangered
Length	35.0 cm (13.8 in)	—
Wingspan	90.0 cm (35.4 in)	—
Weight	350.0 g (12.35 oz)	195.0 g (6.88 oz)
Diet	Almost exclusively small mammals, especially voles and mice. Hunts using extraordinary hearing to locate prey …	--
Clutch Size	2-16	--
Population Trend	—	—

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Size Comparison

Body Length

Barn Owl 35.0 cm

Itombwe Owl —

Wingspan

Barn Owl 90.0 cm

Itombwe Owl —

Weight

Barn Owl 350.0 g

Itombwe Owl 195.0 g

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Habitat Comparison

Shared Habitats

🌲 Forest 🌾 Grassland

Barn Owl only

🏖️ Coastal 🌿 Wetland

Itombwe Owl only

None

Barn Owl

Open farmland, grasslands, and marshes. Nests in barns, church steeples, tree cavities, and purpose-built nest boxes.

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Song & Call Comparison

Barn Owl

Song

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.

Itombwe Owl

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Geographic Range & Migration

Barn Owl

The most widespread owl and one of the most widespread land birds, found on every continent except Antarctica.

Itombwe Owl

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Conservation Status

Least Concern

Barn Owl

Endangered

Itombwe Owl

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How to Tell Them Apart

Barn Owl

Plumage

Pale golden-buff upperparts with delicate grey mottling. Pure white heart-shaped face and white to pale buff underparts. Ghostly white appearance in flight.

Bill

Pale pinkish hooked bill nearly concealed by the facial disc

Itombwe Owl

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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.

Itombwe Owl

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Related Comparisons

Atlantic Puffin vs Barn Owl

look-alike

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More Birds to Explore

More from Tytonidae

African Grass-owl Tyto capensis American Barn-Owl Tyto furcata Andaman Masked-Owl Tyto deroepstorffi Ashy-faced Owl Tyto glaucops All Tytonidae birds →

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