Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae. An excellent paper on Utah barn owls can be found here: https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jrr/v010n02/p00033-p00044.pdf, https://www.barnowlbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/barnowlbox_header.png, Copyright © 2013 - 2017 Barn Owl Box Company 1-877-637-8269, https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/jrr/v010n02/p00033-p00044.pdf, Illinois Audubon Society, Springfield, IL, Pacific Gas and Electric, San Francisco, CA, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Some owl species are believed to hunt by sound rather than sight. The head can swivel through about 180 degrees. Barn Owl Tyto alba: Farmington Bay Davis County, Utah 23 Jan 2013 : by John Crawley ©John Crawley: Barn Owl Tyto alba: Salt Creek WMA Box Elder County, Utah 1 Jan 2013 : by Paul Higgins ©Paul Higgins: Barn Owl Tyto alba: King Ranch, Texas 28 Feb 2007 : by Steve Carr ©Steve Carr Barn Owl Tyto alba Female W. of Utah Lake Utah Co., Utah. Two to eleven eggs are laid at two to three day intervals. It was Smith who famously discovered a colony of barn owls in the buildings of an abandoned steel mill near Overton in 1968. It returns to the same nesting place year after year. The agriculture of Utah plays an important role in sustaining healthy barn owls populations. A common name is the "flying mouse trap," due to its silent flight and deadly effect on mouse populations. Only when rodents are not available will they eat small birds. Discovered in its daytime retreat, the Barn Owl bobs its head and weaves back and forth, peering at the intruder. The ears are very sensitive and supplement the vision; they can pinpoint the rustling of a mouse in total darkness. Smith and Marti found two excellent barn owl populations, a northern population that stretched from Utah County to Box Elder County and a southern population in Iron and Washington counties. Incubation lasts for about a month. Barn Owl Tyto alba: Antelope Island Causeway Davis County, Utah 14 Feb 2016 : by Cliff Miles ©Cliff Miles: Barn Owl Tyto alba: Provo, Utah 26 Feb 2016 : by Cliff Miles ©Cliff Miles . They are particularly common in the agricultural valleys. When threatened, it puffs its feathers to increase body size in an attempt to look bigger and more frightening. Eventually this colony numbered 38 individuals before the mill was torn down. Researchers Dwight Smith and Carl Marti conducted a number of studies in the state. The feet are bare or covered with only a few soft feathers. Huge binocular eyes have great light-gathering power but have poor focusing ability at close range. This is because their eyes cannot rotate in the sockets. They have long strong legs with powerful talons. or animals from North America! Their Facebook page documents the recovery of this Barn Owl. Of the large owls, I’ve seen Great Horned Owl, Short-eared Owl, and Barn Owl near the ranch and I suspect Long-eared Owls occasionally visit. Owls have a wider range of binocular vision than any other bird. Researchers Dwight Smith and Carl Marti conducted a number of studies in the state. Eggs are laid as early as February but as late as April. Winter is tough on the Barn Owls in Utah especially when there is lots of snow on the ground and the temps drop down into the single digits. Receive our latest offers, stories & event news, direct to your inbox. They also roost in hollow tree trunks and thick clumps of trees. The diet is almost exclusively rodents when available. Barn Owl 58 views Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area (WMA), Davis County, Utah. the Great Basin desert in the western side of the state where they are likely rare. The most common prey items found through pellet analyses are the meadow vole and mountain vole, followed by house mice, deer mice, and vagrant shrews. … On Feb. 5, a barn owl was found on the ground near a junior high school in Magna. February 25, 2020 On Saturday 2/24/2020 Second Chance Wildlife Rehabilitation released a Barn Owl in Eagle Mountain that was hit by a car in early February in the Magna Utah area. Courtship runs from mid-January through March 1968. Wheat, barley, and oats, poultry, and cattle are raised in almost every county. The under parts are whitish with black spots. Its exceptionally acute hearing enables it to locate prey in absolute darkness. Some owl species are believed to hunt by sound rather than sight. Barn Owls in Utah Utah is one of those states where extensive research has been conducted on barn owls. Barn owl, Tyto alba; Owls. Rare Great Grey Owl Sighting from Dreamcastar Video Productions on Vimeo.. This owl lives up to its name and can often be found occupying barns, and other abandoned structures. No other living thing can match the visual acuity of birds. Fall nesting also occurs, though not as commonly. Utah is one of those states where extensive research has been conducted on barn owls. He reports that they are often hit by automobiles in that area due to their low flight pattern while hunting. The preferred food is mice, but they also eat all manner of small animals such as shrews, pack rats and ground squirrels as well as small reptiles and amphibians. There is often such a difference in sizes that larger ones may eat the smaller as they hatch. Lanky, with a whitish face, chest, and belly, and buffy upperparts, this owl roosts in hidden, quiet places during the day. the two! cross-reference Barn-owls are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. The eyes of the young open in five days. The first hatchings occur in early March and the first fledglings leave the nests in mid-May. You must have JavaScript enabled to fill out this form. On Feb. 5, a barn owl was found on the ground near a junior high school in Magna. A resting Barn Owl on hay bales – Nikon D810, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited. Sorry. This was one of the first records of a dense breeding colony in the United States. It can fly rapidly but relies on surprise rather than speed in hunting. The ears are very sensitive and supplement the vision; they can pinpoint the rustling of a mouse in total darkness. However, the largest bodied race of barn owl, T. f. furcata from Cuba and Jamaica, is also an island race, albeit being found on more sizeable islands with larger prey and few larger owls competing for dietary resources. Has a complete ruff-like ring of feathers around the head, giving it a heart-shaped facial disc, with dark eyes. It was Smith who famously discovered a colony of barn owls in the buildings of an abandoned steel mill near Overton in 1968. The size eliminated the possibility of it being from any of Utah’s small owls -- the Western Screech-Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, or Burrowing Owl. This is one of the most common European birds. Likes open field and hedge rows for hunting. Or, Huge binocular eyes have great light-gathering power but have poor focusing ability at close range. February 5th, 2020 – “Yesterday we admitted this male Barn owl from the Salt Lake valley area. The shape of the tail is a means of distinguishing the barn owl from typical owlswhen seen in the air. You can find them by listening for their eerie, raspy calls, quite unlike the hoots of other owls. Old buildings, decayed cottonwoods, and self-dug burrows in the sides of arroyos are the most common nesting sites. January 2007 January 2007 Barn Owl 55 views Antelope Island Causeway, Davis County, Utah. However, it is really a good omen for farmers who find it in their barns, for it preys chiefly on mice and rats. The head can swivel through about 180 degrees. The beak is compact and hooked. Breeding takes place in the spring, in four-month cycles, two broods a year are possible in areas with long summers. Flying birds have superb eyesight, a prerequisite of flight. Usually incubation begins in early September with fledglings appearing in early December. It has magnificent plumage, golden or reddish above, with brown, gray or white markings. Prefers to nest in ruined houses, barns, pigeon cotes and similar farm buildings, and in large hollow trees. Learn more about birds One species has been recorded in Utah. The American barn owl is a medium-sized, pale-coloured owl with long wings and a short, squarish tail. Typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. Ghostly pale and normally strictly nocturnal, Barn Owls are silent predators of the night world. Barn Owl Tyto alba: Antelope Island Causeway Davis County, Utah 14 Feb 2016 : by Cliff Miles ©Cliff Miles: Barn Owl Tyto alba: Provo, Utah 26 Feb 2016 : by Cliff Miles ©Cliff Miles . Essentially, the barn owl is quite common throughout Utah except in the forests, high mountains, and, Washington County farmland in Utah has excellent barn owl populations. SALT LAKE CITY — It was the smile that said it all: He was free to do what he was born to do. By night, they hunt on buoyant wingbeats in open fields and meadows. He could fly. They are incubated from the day the first egg is laid, so they hatch at intervals. Other distinguishing features are the undulating flight pattern and the dangling, feathered legs.