Barn Owls

Barn owls are specialist hunters superbly adapted to catching small ground-dwelling mammals – although should the opportunity arise they will also take small birds, bats, reptiles, amphibians and large insects. Their principal prey depends on the area in which they hunt: close to farm buildings and outhouses they feed mainly on the house mouse (Mus musculus) and the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), out in the open countryside, away from buildings, their diet tends to consist mainly of the wood mouse