{"id":79512,"date":"2021-02-17T06:01:48","date_gmt":"2021-02-17T13:01:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=79512"},"modified":"2025-08-04T06:25:33","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T11:25:33","slug":"adult-barn-owl-on-the-wing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/17\/adult-barn-owl-on-the-wing\/","title":{"rendered":"Adult American Barn Owl On The Wing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult American Barn Owl on the wing \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n

So far this winter I have only seen one American Barn Owl on the wing on the 6th of January as it flew over the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a>. That particular American Barn Owl may have only taken flight because a young Northern Harrier was harassing it.<\/p>\n

Until now our winter in northern Utah has been relatively mild and snow has been severely lacking. It snowed much of the day yesterday and as I type this more snow is falling. Usually I only see American Barn Owls in flight during the winter when there is thick snow on the ground which means they have to hunt longer to get the calories they need to survive. Hunting prey through thick snow is hard for the owls.<\/p>\n

I am always excited to see these gorgeous owls during the day. I also feel sad when I see them because I know they are stressed and need to find food.<\/p>\n

With fresh snow on the ground chances are that some of these nocturnal owls will take to the air during the daylight hours until the snow that is currently covering the ground here melts.<\/p>\n

In northern Utah the courtship and breeding season for American Barn Owls starts soon. Actually the courtship period for American Barn Owls without mates here may have already started. I wanted to bring this information up because I have seen other people say that American Barn Owls are only seen in flight during the day in harsh winters. That is simply not always the case.<\/p>\n

American Barn Owls often have large broods which means there a lot of owlet bellies that need to be filled once the eggs hatch. The adult American Barn Owls will hunt longer in the mornings and earlier in the evenings to supply their young with sufficient food.<\/p>\n

I plan on getting out into the field as soon as I can to see if I can find a American Barn Owl or two on the wing.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

So far this winter I have only seen one Barn Owl on the wing on the 6th of January as it flew over the marsh at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129,27,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,3985,6660,5490,5672,4052,4122,4094,11024,6384,3967,294,49,373],"class_list":["post-79512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-barn-owls","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-barn-owl","tag-day","tag-daylight","tag-flats","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-marsh","tag-nocturnal","tag-on-the-wing","tag-owl","tag-owls","tag-tyto-furcata","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/barn-owl-flight-flats-mia-mcpherson-5834.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kGs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":49316,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/06\/bear-river-mbr-barn-owls-in-flight-all-small-in-the-frame\/","url_meta":{"origin":79512,"position":0},"title":"Bear 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straight into the New Year and that is what I am doing. Spreading my wings and facing what comes at me head on.","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 straight ahead, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/barn-owl-head-on-mia-mcpherson-1467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/barn-owl-head-on-mia-mcpherson-1467.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/barn-owl-head-on-mia-mcpherson-1467.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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