Barn Owl Hunting

How a barn owl finds a vole in the dark, and what it does next.

A hunting barn owl is one of the great free shows of the British countryside. It works its way along a field edge like someone mowing a lawn, slow and steady, just above the grass. It stops, hangs in the air, and drops in a puff of feathers. It looks effortless, but it's the result of some remarkable equipment.

🪶 Flying low and slow

Barn owls hunt mainly on the wing, about one to three metres above the ground. That low height matters. The sounds they hunt by, a vole rustling in the grass or a shrew squeaking, are very faint and fade quickly with distance.

The owl flies back and forth across an area, slowly, covering it again and again in a pattern known as quartering. It often flies no faster than a brisk walk, and sometimes it seems to hang in the air.

The secret of silent flight

Silence is everything. The front edge of each wing feather is shaped like a little comb, the back edge has a soft fringe, and the upper surface is covered in a velvety layer. Together they break up the noise the air would normally make as it rushes over the wings. That lets the owl listen for its prey without giving itself away.

👂 Hearing first, eyes second

A barn owl's heart-shaped face works like a satellite dish, collecting sound and funnelling it to ears that sit at slightly different heights on either side of the head. Because each ear hears a sound a little differently, the owl's brain can work out exactly where it came from, left and right as well as up and down. Its ability to pinpoint a sound is among the most accurate of any animal ever tested, and it means a barn owl can catch prey in almost complete darkness.

Its eyes matter too. They're large and packed with cells that work well in dim light, but they can't move in their sockets. That's why you'll see a watching owl bobbing and swaying its head from side to side. Each little movement gives it a slightly different view, which helps it judge how far away something is.

🎯 The pounce

1. Listen. When the owl hears something, it doesn't always dive straight away.
2. Hover. It often stops in mid-air with its head perfectly still and its face pointed at the sound.
3. Drop and check. It may drop a little, then hover again to pinpoint the sound more precisely.
4. Strike. Finally it pounces, thrusting its feet forward with its wings raised. The talons close around the prey, and a squeeze usually finishes the job.

Owlets practise this instinct long before they catch anything real, gripping sticks, stones and even bits of pipe in the nest box.

🪵 Waiting on a post

Barn owls don't always hunt on the wing. In cold weather especially, they sit on fence posts, gates and low branches, watching and listening, then drop onto anything that moves. Flying burns energy and loses heat, and a barn owl carries very little fat, so hunting from a perch saves a lot of effort. A post about two to three metres high is ideal.

🌙 When do barn owls hunt?

Barn owls come out around dusk, hunt through the evening and night, and often again before dawn. They're very much creatures of the night, and here's why barn owls are nocturnal.

What I've found: you won't see barn owls hunting much in the daytime. The two main exceptions are nesting time, when they have hungry mouths to feed and need every extra hour of hunting they can get, and after bad weather, especially snow.

That's why a barn owl out in the afternoon isn't necessarily a sick owl. It may just be a hungry one.

🌧️ Why rain stops them

Barn owls avoid hunting in heavy rain. Their feathers aren't waterproof, so they get wet, heavy and noisy, which ruins their silent flight. The sound of rain also drowns out the tiny noises they're listening for. After a few wet nights, they can be very hungry indeed.

❄️ Hunting in the snow

Snow is one of the hardest things a barn owl has to deal with. Voles, shrews and mice don't disappear when it snows. They carry on living in tunnels underneath the snow, where it's sheltered and a little warmer. For the owl, though, that makes them terribly difficult to find. The snow hides them from view and muffles the sounds they make, and a thick layer is hard for a barn owl to punch through with its feet.

With little fat to live on, a barn owl can quickly get into trouble if snow lies on the ground for days. That's when you're most likely to see one hunting desperately in daylight, trying anywhere it might find a meal, including field edges, hedge bottoms and around farm buildings. Long, snowy winters are one of the main causes of barn owl deaths.

How you can help in winter: leave areas of rough grass uncut, as they give voles cover and help keep numbers up. Avoid disturbing roosting owls, as every bit of energy they save counts in cold weather.

🐭 What they catch

Mainly small mammals. The field vole is the favourite, followed by shrews and mice. Small birds, young rats and frogs turn up occasionally, especially when owlets are being fed or food is scarce. Barn owls are very good at adapting to whatever prey is around.

On our nest cameras, a male can bring in a dozen or more animals in a night when the young are growing. There's much more about this in what do barn owls eat?

🍽️ Eating the catch

A barn owl usually swallows its prey whole, and head first. The fur lies in the right direction and the legs fold back, so the vole slides down easily. The owl rocks its head, its throat contracts, and the tail slowly disappears.

Barn owls get most of their water from their food, so a vole is a meal and a drink in one. A few hours later, the owl coughs up a pellet made of the fur and bones it couldn't digest, which is how researchers find out exactly what barn owls eat.

🔭 How to watch a barn owl hunt

My tip: go to rough grassland on a calm, dry evening, about an hour before dusk, and keep very still. Barn owls tend to ignore anything that doesn't move. Look for a pale, ghostly shape flying slowly back and forth low over the grass.

⚠️ Please give them space. Watch from a distance, never shine lights at a hunting owl, and don't approach nest sites. Barn owls are protected by law in the UK.

Or watch the results from home: our live barn owl nest camera shows every delivery the parents bring back to the box.

❓ Questions people ask

How do barn owls hunt?

They fly low and slowly over rough grassland, listening for small mammals. When they hear one, they hover, pinpoint the sound and pounce feet first. They also hunt from fence posts, especially in cold weather.

Do barn owls hunt in the day?

Not often. They mostly hunt from dusk and through the night. You're most likely to see one hunting in daylight when it has owlets to feed, or after bad weather such as heavy rain or snow.

How do barn owls find prey in the dark?

Mainly by sound. Their heart-shaped face channels sound to ears set at different heights, so they can pinpoint a rustle in the grass in almost complete darkness.

Can barn owls hunt in the snow?

They try, but it's very difficult. Voles and mice live in tunnels under the snow, where they're hidden and hard to hear. Long spells of snow can leave barn owls struggling to find enough food.

How many animals does a barn owl catch a night?

An adult typically eats three or four small mammals a night. When feeding owlets, a male may bring a dozen or more to the nest.

📚 More from Barn Owl Live

• 🎥 Watch our live barn owl nest camera
• 🌙 Are barn owls nocturnal?
• 🍽️ What do barn owls eat?
• 💕 Barn owl mating
• 🏠 Barn owl nest box sizes and checklist

Paul 🦉