The world of owls is a complex place with so many families, clades, divisions, sub-divisions and species. Added to all of that, many of the owls look alike and behave in uncannily similar ways.
In complications as such, Barn Owl vs Barred Owl is a discussion that’s sketched up with a purpose to draw the lines between these two nocturnal predators.
18 aspects stand out that’ll help you detect one from the other and at the same time find deeper insights into the daily lives of the two species.
As they share the distribution range in North America, either could be living around your home and you might need to know precisely which one is it for a number of reasons.
If you have a completely different agenda, the outcome of the article remains the same – that is to differentiate between two owls as neatly as possible!
Contents
Barn vs Barred Owl: Factual Variations
Let’s sort out the facts first between Barred and Barn Owls so that the basic confusion is eliminated at the very beginning.
Barn Owl
Source: @theirishgallivanter
- Scientific Name: Tyto alba
- Size: 33 to 39 cm (13 to 15 in)
- Locality: All over the world, except for the polar and desert regions, northern Asia, most of Indonesia, and some Pacific Islands
- Status: Least Concern
- Breeding Season: March to June
If you measure owl population by spread and availability, Barn Owls would come out on top every time! And it’s not only within the owl category, but also across all birds as the species most widely distributed. Barn Owls have three local variants: Eastern, Western and American – all of whom share the same scientific name since their genealogical traits are identical.
Barred Owl
Source: @tuck0331
- Scientific Name: Strix varia
- Size: 40 to 63 cm (16 to 25 in)
- Locality: North America
- Status: Least Concern
- Breeding Season: March to August
Barred Owls get their name from the designed bars on their feathers, especially located around the underbelly region. Due to resemblance in markings, Spotted Owls used to be categorized under Barred Owls, but advanced research recognizes the former as a species on its own. Under the Strix genus, Barred Owl has 21 cousins covering extensive distribution ranges.
Barred Owl or Barn Owl? Perfect Identification Everytime!
Source: @walkingwiththewildlife
Spotting difference is the first step of separating one bird from the other, because it’s the primary thing that catches your eyes before anything else. Also, it’s the quickest form of verification, so make sure you know about each species’ size, shape, colors & features distinctively.
Size & Shape
Out of the two, Barred Owl is the larger species by about 9 inches on average. Starting from the tail, Barn Owl has a differently shaped one than the Barred Owl, which helps out with their aerodynamics and insect-catching abilities in mid-air.
On the face, Barn Owl shows a clearing shaped like an apple, which is the common feature for all the Barn Owls, but uncalled for the ones like Barred. Because the latter’s face isn’t smooth as such and a tiny pair of beaks stands out from the rest of it.
Colors & Textures
Difference in colorization is a key aspect between these two owls. Barn Owls have a smoother transition of colors on their body feathers. The abdomen is usually a shade of white and the back is reddish-toned, while the neck & shoulder remains a light orange.
On the other hand, Barred Owls are full of colors and probably the most vibrant owl ever to exist! The back is a brown textured with white horizontal lines. Frontal parts are textured too, but not so vigorously as the back. The white patch of feathers surrounding the neck makes it look like an old, bearded guy with a humped back.
Facial Features
I’ll stress further on the facial features of these two because this is the easiest method of identification for Barn & Barred Owls. Barn Owls have the most unique face, devoid of any spot or texture and colored in the light, soothing tone. It’ll feel as if it had dipped its face in some flour.
Barred Owls are textured all over and their facial space is no exception. The entire face is outlined with thin, brown colored feathers and even the insides show hints of such texture. It’s not as aggressive as the body feather but enough to separate it from Barn Owls.
Barred Owls vs. Barn Owls: Major Differences
Despite both of these two birds being owls, there are 15 variances that are so signifiable that they’ve made their way into this section for your convenience.
Source: @wilsonswildlife
Owl Family
Usually genealogically similar birds belong to the same family name and it seems like there’s some major deviation between Barred & Barn Owls since their families are different. Barred Owl belongs to the Strigidae – referring to the true owls which has 230 living species. As opposed to it, Barn Owl’s family is Tytonidae – the only other owl family than Strigidae with 20 living species.
Distribution Range
The discrepancy in distribution range for the two birds is huge! Because Barn Owls can literally be found at almost any part of the world, including North America & US states like Wisconsin or Arizona, except for a few arctic locations far north and south, with a blank region in northern Africa.
Barred Owls are strictly North American birds, the major population residing in the eastern half of the continent, covering Florida, Georgia, Carolina etc. with some surplus over north & north-west.
Habitat
Barn Owls mostly inhabit open grasslands, agricultural zones and farm lands. These birds aren’t much territorial like Cardinals, but their flight maintains a periphery with their nest at the center. Unlike them, Barred Owls prefer a more confined habitat with trees that make up deciduous or coniferous forests. Other forests beside water bodies have also been endorsed by them.
Behavior
Both of these owls are nocturnal but there exists some diurnal activities that these two perform uniquely. Barred Owls tend to perform a few night-time tasks during the day, but mostly around dusk, dawn or overcast days. Barn Owls on the other hand tend to move their perching sites during the day and even hunt, provided that no mob birds are present in the scene.
Expected Lifespan & Causes of Death
Neither of these birds are Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo with an 85-year lifespan, but their minimum average life expectancy stands at 18 years. Barn Owls have a longer upper limit of 34 year-average while Barred Owls capped at only 24.
The main causes of death for Barn Owl are starvation in temperate areas and snow-covered zones. Another big reason is death by collision with vehicles. Barred Owls hold predation as its prime cause of untimely death – mostly by other species who invade their nests.
Subspecies
Subspecies tells us how much the species has evolved over the years and the path this evolution has taken across localities. In this note, Barn Owls show a huge variance with 28 subspecies spreaded over the world. On the other hand, due to limitation of distribution range, Barred Owls have only 3 subspecies at different regions of North America.
Taxonomy
The variation of Barn Owls has not yet reached any conclusion and its categorization tree keeps being modified by the International Ornithological Committee frequently. For instance, despite the subspecies categorization, Barn Owls are also divided into two clades.
As this owl was initially described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in 1769, Barred Owl description came much later by Benjamin Smith Barton, a Philadelphia naturalist, in 1799.
Source: @marionwestveer
Diet
When it comes to dietary diversity, both of these owls tend to sit together in a tight competition. Barred Owls primarily feast on mammals of different categories and birds, fishes or amphibians at certain occasions.
Although a lot of the owls do pick up larger prey, Barred Owls don’t follow that trait. Despite a shared food palette, Barn Owls usually eat more frequently than Barred ones due to their higher metabolism.
Source: @rc_photowild
Nesting
Nesting sites is one of the reasons for Barn Owls to be named in such a way as mentioned before. Other than that, they pick two nesting spots as their most common practice – hollow trees or over the cliff. Barred Owls share their nesting sites with a lot of other birds across different forest categories of deciduous, coniferous or mixed, inside hollow trunks.
Hunting Style
In terms of hunting, Barn Owls are well-endowed with their long legs and talons that help them forage even through dense snow. After being perched on a branch, it takes a slow flight and glides over the region until it locates a prey and dives in for retrieval.
Barred Owl takes a different route of perching from one branch to another and after a few passes, they dip down to snatch their prey.
Feather Molting
Between these two owls, Barn Owls are the ones to have the molting trait. Molting refers to shedding of feathers to make room for new ones. Because this species is prone to feather wear over time. This process is quite extensive and the result lasts for around two years in three consecutive phases.
Interspecies Relationship
In spite of the fact that these two birds are both predators, Barred Owls have a better interspecies relationship with other predatory birds in their habitat than of Barn Owls. The former species shares its territory with the likes of Red-shouldered Hawks who are their diurnal counterpart. They utilize the habitat parallelly to not get into each other’s way while hunting.
Affecting Other Owls
Barred Owls are notorious for hunting down other owls in their native area. A few other Strix species are declining in number due to quite a few reasons, one of them being the hunting of Barred Owl. Even if they don’t hunt, the Barred Owl’s presence negatively affects the other owls in the same territory. Barn Owls don’t show such a trait most of the time.
In Art & Culture
Due to the mean face and gray-white feather color, many refer to Barn Owls as demons or omens of death. Mexicans believe it to be a spreader of diseases. Hindus in India hold the opposite notion and believe it as a symbol of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and fortune. Significance of Barred Owl is only restricted to an artwork by John James Audubon.
Vocalization
When it comes to callings, these owls walk in opposite directions entirely with their unique phonetics. Barred Owls sound closer to other typical owls who ‘hoot’ – a combination of eight that might sound like loud “ok-ok-ok-ok ok-ok-buhooh”. Barn Owls are exceptional even for an owl as they don’t hoot, rather create an ear-piercing scream sounding like “shree”.
Their vocal audios are given hereafter for your identification purposes:
Barn Owl
Barred Owl
What Are the Similar Aspects between Barn & Barred Owls?
Even though the dissimilarities are more eminent for the two birds in concern, their similarities, even if they’re less in number, shouldn’t be overlooked for a better understanding at Barn vs Barred Owl discussion.
Order
The two families converged into a mutual order of Strigiformes that translates into common tongue as ‘owls’. Meaning, all of the worlds – over 200 individual species – belong to this broader umbrella of order. Owls under this category including Barn and Barred, all share some basic similarities of traits, behaviors, hunting patterns and diet.
Prone to Mobbing
As agile as these two birds may sound like, they’re still prone to being mobbed by other species in their habitat. The mobbing birds include Magpies, Crows, Rooks, Woodpeckers or even some mammals at times! It can occur during their diurnal huntings or after a rainy day. There have even been cases of revenge-killing done by Barn Owls of crows after being mobbed.
Parasitism
These two aggressive birds become vulnerable to threats of microorganisms like parasites. Barn Owl nests are quite often infested with fleas while the birds themselves get overwhelmed with lice, mites or worms. Similar types of helminths affect Barred Owls as well. Even though these don’t generally cause death, rare cases have shown owls dying due to such parasitism.
FAQ
Let’s skim through the FAQ section that gives you more knowledge on both Barn and Barred Owls. It’s also concerned with other species that have something to do with the owls in concern.
Q: Which of the two mentioned owls is more aggressive in nature?
Ans: Each of the owls are aggressive of different kinds that can’t be compared or given out a verdict of. On one hand, Barred Owls behave aggressively toward other owls in their neighborhood. On the other hand, Barn Owls go on a revenge-killing spree if their nests are exploited. So we have to agree upon the fact that both of these are uniquely aggressive.
Q: Which other birds are seen as death omens like Barn Owls?
Ans: As the cultural depictions hold Barn Owls to be negative omens and associated with all the bads, there are other birds who are seen in similar ways. To be precise, black birds especially have the crown for being the most highly acclaimed death omens and Red-winged Blackbirds are a close second.
Q: Do Barn and Barred Owl share the same food palette as hawks?
Ans: Hawks are some of the most aggressive avian predators of a given territory. Both Barn and Barred Owls share the same habitats in different locations, thus their food palette tends to overlap. Mostly, rodents are the common animals hunted by all three birds and rabbit is picked out by hawks only, if it fits certain criteria.
Thoughts
Our owl dialogue is coming to an end now with much old and newfound knowledge concerning Barred Owl vs Barn Owl having been laid before the readers.
These two species are currently abundant in population, but we shouldn’t take it granted by destroying their habitat zones.
Also, their aggressive nature takes precedence only when they feel threatened, so we should know better not to challenge their natural way of things.
If you’re concerned, neither of the two owls are harmful for human beings and no matter how many people see it, they don’t bring negativity in people’s lives.
So I hope the entire discussion has been conclusive enough to render the aspects that separate the two owls crystal clear and remain so for the rest of days!
Further Reading:
