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Barn Owl

By nature, barn owls are nocturnal and solitary. Flying close to the ground, they are completely silent. This total silence in flying is due in part to their feather tips that are split, breaking the flow of the air at the trailing edge of their wings. They can locate unsuspecting prey in absolute darkness with their exceptional hearing.
Barn owls will mate for life. Normal broods have 3 to 6 young. In England, there have been reports of up to 18 in one brood. 2-3 broods per year are normal but if the food supply is low, the owls may go without a brood during that time. The eggs are laid one every few days over two or three weeks, thus spreading out the hatching over a similar length of time. At about three weeks of age, the owlets are able to eat by themselves the food their parents provide.
Average life span is usually less than three years for barn owls in the wild, but they've lived over ten years in captivity. The populations worldwide of these special owls are declining. Their favored grasslands are being replaced by towns, roads, and urban sprawl. Additionally, the owls may catch rodents who have eaten rat poison or consumed food sprayed with pesticides. For some reason yet to be known, the barn owl suffers more severe effects from consuming pesticides than other species of owls. These pesticides are often responsible for eggshells that are too thin. Barn owls are on endangered species, "special concern," or rare lists in many states of the United States and in Canada and are protected by laws in several other countries
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