Barn Owl ( Tyto alba, family: tytonidae)

barn owl kruger national park birds The Barn Owl (Latin name Tyto alba) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 392 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 251 also a picture of the Barn Owl on page 272. The Barn Owl belongs to the family of birds classified as tytonidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Barn Owl is also known by these other names: White Owl.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Barn Owl is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park. It is however a common resident

In terms of distribution of the Barn Owl in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Barn Owl : see above distribution map.

The Barn Owl.

Barn Owl Kruger ParkIdentification assistance for this avian species ...

The Barn Owl is a bird a little bit bigger than a starling. The height of the Barn Owl is about 33 cms and its weight is about 410 gms

You will find that the male Barn Owl plumage and colours are different to that of the female Barn Owl

  • Head is grey.
  • Eye is black.
  • Bill is white.
  • Throat is white.
  • Back is grey.
  • Legs are grey.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Barn Owl feeds on wing mainly

Smaller animals

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Barn Owl is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Tyto alba will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Barn Owl is to create the nest in a hole in a tree trunk. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 13

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Barn Owl are: woodlands

You will normally see the Barn Owl by itself rather than in the company of birds of the same species.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Isikhova

Zulu ... isiKhova/umZwelele

Afrikaans ...Nonnetjie-uil

German ... Schleiereule

Portuguese ... Coruja-das-torres

French ... Effraie des clochers

Dutch ... Alba Witte Kerkuil

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 392

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za