Barn Owl

🔍 Overview

Ghostly and ethereal, the Barn Owl is one of Sussex’s most iconic nocturnal hunters. Often glimpsed at dusk, silently quartering open fields and meadows.

🪶 Key Identification Features

Size: Medium (33–39 cm)
Plumage: Pale buff and white
Distinctive Marks: Heart-shaped white face
Bill: Small, pale
Tail: Short, pale
Flight: Silent and buoyant, with deep, slow wingbeats

🗺️ Habitat & Distribution

Widespread in rural Sussex, especially near farmland, hedgerows, and coastal marshes. Active year-round.

🎶 Voice & Behaviour

Utters eerie screeches or hissing calls, especially near roosts. Hunts low over fields at dawn and dusk.

🍴 Diet

Mainly small mammals like voles, mice, and shrews.

📸 Birding Tip

Look around dusk along country lanes near Pulborough Brooks, Amberley Wild Brooks, or Woods Mill. Watch for pale shapes gliding low.