The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is a medium-sized owl with a distinctive heart-shaped facial disc and blackish eyes. Its upper body colour ranges from deep grey and buff, to golden, to almost white, with grey and black markings.
The Barn Owl was designated as Threatened by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) in November 2010. The main reasons for uplisting the Barn Owl population to Threatened was the ongoing loss and degradation of grassland and old field habitat, loss of nest sites as old farms structures are demolished, and increasing road mortality due to major road development and increased traffic volume on the existing road network. It is listed as Special Concern in Canada under Schedule 1 of the Species at Risk Act (SARA). In British Columbia, the Barn Owl is ranked S3 (Special Concern, 2009) by the Conservation Data Centre, and is on the provincial Blue list. It is protected from capture and killing under the B.C. Wildlife Act. Recovery is considered to be biologically and technically feasible.
The Barn Owl predominantly inhabits lower-elevation grassland/farmland habitats in southwestern British Columbia. It is a small mammal specialist and cavity nester, known to use a variety of man-made structures for nesting......
B.C. Ministry of Environment. 2014. Recovery Plan for the Barn Owl (Tyto alba) in British Columbia. Province of BC - B.C. Ministry of Environment
Scientific Name: Tyto alba
English Name: Barn Owl
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