Barn owls are graceful, silent fliers that hunt on the wing all year round. Read our tips to spot these elegant birds of prey.
Naomi Knight
Content editor and nature enthusiast
Naomi has a strong interest in wildlife, the natural world, sport and fitness, and promoting the wellbeing of young people.
Barn owls have long legs, toes and talons to catch prey hidden in long grass. Credit: Myles Berners
What do barn owls look like?
With a white heart-shaped face, legs, and underbody, barn owls are familiar and easily recognisable. They have golden brown backs, wings and heads with black and grey mottling. The soft fringe along the outside of their flying feathers absorbs the sound of their flight.
Six tips to see barn owls
Next time you're on the towpath, use our top tips to increase your chances of spotting these beautiful birds of prey.
1. Wait for calm and cold weather
Choose a still, calm day for a better chance of spotting barn owls. They hate strong winds and rain, which makes it much harder for them to fly. Barn owls have very soft feathers, which aren't particularly waterproof - but do make for a smooth, silent flight.
Whilst you might see an owl throughout the year, you're more likely to in winter as they spend more time on the wing, hunting for food to survive the cold.
2. Head out in the evening
For your best chance at spotting a barn owl, head out at dusk. This is when they are most likely to be out in search of food. However, despite being nocturnal birds, they will extend their hunting hours into the day during cold weather, in order to catch more.
Barn owls primarily eat small mammals such as voles, mice, shrews and rats, but have occasionally been known to also eat bats, small birds, amphibians and invertebrates.
Barn owls have incredible vision – making them excellent nocturnal predators. Credit: Myles Berners
3. Find their hunting ground
Barn owls can be found across the UK, and prefer to build their nests in open countryside, farmland, along roadside verges and by canals and rivers.
When hunting, barn owls swoop over rough grassland, lowland fields and hedgerows – home to their favourite food, the vole.
Scan the sheltered sides of fields and canals. If an owl is hunting nearby, make a squeaking noise by kissing the back of your hand. The owl might venture closer to see what's making the noise.
4. Listen for their screech
Unlike other owls, barn owls don't hoot. They screech. If you hear their unmistakable high-pitched shrill, one might be hunting nearby.
Audio: Arjun Dutta / xeno-canto.org
5. Look for their pellets
A tell-tale sign of a barn owl hunting in the area is the presence of their pellets. These consist of the undigestible parts of their prey – the fur and bones. Barn owls regurgitate this matter about six hours after feeding, and may produce one or two pellets a night.
Barn owl pellets are relatively large (about 3-7cm), smooth, and round. They are black when fresh and turn grey with age.
Our expert ecologists have unveiled the best spots to see barn owls along our canals and rivers
6. Watch and wait
Like any nature-spotting quests, patience is a virture. Despite being silent on the wing and fast in flight, the light plumage of a barn owl means it's not completely hidden from our eyes.
It might be a strange colour palette for a nocturnal predator, but the Barn Owl Trust believes this to be part of an 'anti-silhouette strategy' they've developed. When viewed from below, birds tend to appear as a dark silhouette, meaning a lighter colour plumage could reduce the risk of prey knowing they're being pursued.
Another theory is that their white underpart creates a reflection on the ground and causes voles to freeze, as they have a natural aversion to bright light.
There are roughly 4,000 breeding pairs of barn owls in the UK.
Is it rare to see a barn owl in the UK?
Fewer barn owls are surviving in the wild, but there are still about 4,000 breeding pairs in the UK.
Our canals are prime feeding areas, providing a highway for owls to safely travel up and down in search of food and shelter.
Where do barn owls live?
As the name indicates, barn owls nest in barn cavities, buildings, bridges, and tree hollows to shelter from wind and rain.
You can find barn owls across the UK, particularly in open countryside, farmland, along roadside verges and by canal and river habitats.
