{"id":12063,"date":"2013-12-20T05:43:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-20T12:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=12063"},"modified":"2025-08-05T08:16:56","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T13:16:56","slug":"barn-owls-and-their-many-nicknames","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/20\/barn-owls-and-their-many-nicknames\/","title":{"rendered":"American Barn Owls And Their Many Nicknames"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult American Barn Owl in flight – Nikon D300, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever I see American Barn Owls flying during the day it is a delight because they are typically nocturnal. American Barn Owls will fly during the day when they have a ravenous brood of chicks to feed and in winters when there is heavy snow on the ground because they have to work harder and longer to find enough prey to survive. This image was created last winter when there were harsh winter conditions.<\/p>\n

American Barn Owls have many nicknames which include monkey-faced owl, silver owl, white owl, delicate owl, golden owl, steeple owl, straw owl, barnyard owl, church owl, night owl, ghost owl, hobgoblin owl, screech owl, and death owl. That is a lot of nicknames and with some of the nicknames it is easy to see how they got them with others it is more elusive.<\/p>\n

I prefer using\u00a0the common name “Barn Owl” because that is most likely where I first saw one because I started my life out as a farmer’s daughter and saw plenty of barns.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my American Barn Owl photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I prefer using the common name “Barn Owl” because that is most likely where I first saw one because I started my life out as a farmer’s daughter and saw plenty of barns. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,27,697,26],"tags":[4004,3985,10955,10956,10961,10951,4052,10958,10952,10959,4094,10948,10947,10946,10945,10957,3967,294,10960,10949,10953,10954,49,10950,373],"class_list":["post-12063","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barn-owls","category-avian","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-barn-owl","tag-barnyard-owl","tag-church-owl","tag-death-owl","tag-delicate-owl","tag-flight","tag-ghost-owl","tag-golden-owl","tag-hobgoblin-owl","tag-marsh","tag-monkey-faced-owl","tag-names","tag-nickname","tag-nicknames","tag-night-owl","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-screech-owl","tag-silver-owl","tag-steeple-owl","tag-straw-owl","tag-tyto-furcata","tag-white-owl","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/barn-owl-adult-flight-mia-mcpherson-9450.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-38z","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12316,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/12\/26\/barn-owl-blur\/","url_meta":{"origin":12063,"position":0},"title":"Barn Owl Blur","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I did a post on the many nicknames used for Barn Owls and among them was \"Ghost Owl\" and for some reason when I first looked at this frame I thought the blurred wings did make it look \"ghostly\".","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Barn Owl blur as it lifts off from a marshy area at Farmington Bay WMA, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-owl-blur-mia-mcpherson-2281.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-owl-blur-mia-mcpherson-2281.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-utah-adult-mia-mcpherson-7011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-utah-adult-mia-mcpherson-7011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-utah-adult-mia-mcpherson-7011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-utah-adult-mia-mcpherson-7011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7499,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/02\/11\/more-barn-owl-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":12063,"position":2},"title":"More American Barn Owl images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Perched American Barn Owl images might not be as dynamic as those when the owl's are in flight but I enjoy them just as much as I do those with more action.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Barn Owl flying close up, Farmington Bay Waterfowl Management Area, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-owl-flying-mia-mcpherson-9462.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-owl-flying-mia-mcpherson-9462.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/barn-owl-flying-mia-mcpherson-9462.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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There were a few Barn Owls hunting for food and I captured images of this one as it flew towards me.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Barn Owl in flight on a foggy morning at Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-4086.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-4086.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/barn-owl-flight-mia-mcpherson-4086.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Barn Owl (Tyto furcata) chicks have hatched there are opportunities here in Utah to see the adult owls hunting just after dawn breaks.","rel":"","context":"In "American Barn Owls"","block_context":{"text":"American Barn Owls","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/owls\/barn-owls\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Barn Owl in Utah, in flight, Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/barn-owl-mia-mcpherson-6993.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/barn-owl-mia-mcpherson-6993.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/barn-owl-mia-mcpherson-6993.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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