Barn Owl

Latin name: Tyto alba

Size: length 33-39cm, wingspan 80-95cm, weight 250-350g

Lifespan: 4 years, although some wild barn owls have been known to reach 15 years.

Diet: Mostly rodents and other small mammals, however barns owls will also eat other birds, lizards, amphibians and insects.

Habitat: Barn owls require areas of open meadow or farmland to catch their prey, often with small patches of woodland nearby.

As their name suggests they often nest in barns and disused buildings as well as holes in trees.

Did you know? With a heart-shaped face, buff back and wings and pure white underparts, the barn owl is a distinctive and much-loved countryside bird. Widely distributed across the UK, and indeed the world, at present there are 4000 breeding pairs in the UK.

This bird has suffered declines through the 20th century and is thought to have been adversely affected by organochlorine pesticides such as DDT in the 1950s and '60s.