From Wikipedia: The Barn Owl is a pale, long-winged, long-legged owl, a with squarish tail. Tail shape is a way of distinguishing the Barn Owl from owls of the strigidae family. 33–39 cm in length with an 80–95 cm wingspan. Its head and upperparts are buff, and the underparts are white. The face is heart shaped. In the US it is incorrectly sometimes called Screech Owl because the Barn Owl has a notable shreee scream, ear-shattering at close range. It can hiss like a snake, and when captured or cornered, it throws itself on its back and flails with sharp-taloned feet, an effective defence. Contrary to popular belief, it does not make the call "tu-whit to-whoo" (which is made by the Tawny Owl). It is a bird of open country, such as farmland, preferring to hunt along the edges of woods. The Barn Owl feeds primarily on small vertebrates, particularly rodents, but also birds and reptiles. It also sometimes eats insects. Studies have shown that an individual Barn Owl may eat one or more rodents per night; a nesting pair and their young can eat more than 1000 rodents per year. It has an effortless wavering flight as it quarters pastures or similar hunting grounds. Alternative names often refer to the appearance, white underparts, or eerie, silent flight, including Monkey-faced Owl, Ghost Owl, Church Owl, Golden Owl, Rat Owl and Stone Owl. Like most owls, the Barn Owl flies silently; tiny serrations on the leading edges of its flight feathers help to break up the flow of air over its wings, thereby reducing turbulence—and the noise that accompanies it. They hunt by flying low and slowly over an area of open ground, hovering over spots that conceal potential prey.