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BARN OWL
Tyto alba
Gayle Mercurio
Song: hissing c s s s e h h or shreee
Length: 14 -21” Wingspan: 43” – 47”
Range: throughout Florida year round
Habitat: woodland edges, clearings,
farms, suburbs
Diet: rodents and insects
Nests: tree cavities, barns, abandoned
buildings in dark recesses
Clutch: 3 -11 oval eggs twice yearly
A nocturnal hunter with a white
heart-shaped face, dark eyes and
long legs. Also called the monkey-
faced or hissing owl, they hunt
close to their nest and eat many
small rodents. It is beneficial for
farmers to have an owl in the barn.
Although rarely seen owl pellets on
the ground lets you know their
nest is close by.
Owls of
Florida
Chris Koeppel
Predator
Neighbor
Nature’s Pest Control
THROUGH AN OWL’S EYES
Large eyes provide keen vision to
hunt at night; but an owl’s eyes
are so big that the eyeball cannot
move inside the skull to look up,
down or from side to side. Owls
have developed flexible necks that
permit their head to rotate 270
degrees so they can look behind.
Owls twist their head almost
upside-down allowing them to
look up.
Dr. Dan Sudia
HOW OWLS HEAR
Being “quiet as a mouse” does not
protect rats and mice from the
owl. Owls have exceptional
hearing for nocturnal hunting of
rodents, the owl’s main food. The
ears of an owl are located behind
the eyes and hidden by flaps of
skin and feathers. Some species
have head feathers that look like
ears but are simply feathers.
Brochure developed as a project for the
Florida Master Naturalist Program
Text: Gayle Mercurio, Eileen Szuchy
Layout: Eileen Szuchy
Florida is a year-round home to
five species of spectacular owls.
Each species has unique features,
assist nature’s balance and benefits
our environment. Florida owls
contribute greatly to the control of
the rodent population preventing
massive infestations of mice, rats,
squirrels. Our smaller owls devour
insects. Throughout Florida, owl
populations are being enhanced to
aid in biological control of rodents.
Although some species occasionally
eat birds, their favorite food is
insects or rodents.
Several owl species are adapting to
areas of development where large
native trees are preserved. These
owls continue pest management
tasks while many predacious
species, like the fox, have declined.
Most owl species have unique
features like barbed feathers that
muffle the sound of their flight.
This allows owls to swoop down
silently upon prey.
45th Space Wing
Natural Resources
Another unique
feature is pellet
regurgitation. Owl
pellets contain the
undigested bone, fur
and teeth of its prey.
www.MasterNaturalist.org