barn owl

Definition of barn owl

: a widely distributed owl (Tyto alba) that has plumage mottled buff brown and gray above and chiefly white below, frequents barns and other buildings, and preys especially on rodents

Examples of barn owl in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Sometimes barn owl breasts are spotted, especially among females. — National Geographic, "Barn owl," 31 Oct. 2020 Firefighters in Southern California rescued a barn owl from a huge wildfire south of Los Angeles. — Alex Sundby, CBS News, "Firefighters rescue little owl from Southern California's Silverado Fire," 28 Oct. 2020 Global barn owl populations range somewhere between four million and about a billion, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. — National Geographic, "Barn owl," 31 Oct. 2020 Earlier this evening one of our crews on a brush rig rescued a barn owl from the flames of the #SilveradoFire. — Alex Sundby, CBS News, "Firefighters rescue little owl from Southern California's Silverado Fire," 28 Oct. 2020 Orange County firefighters have rescued a barn owl from California’s Silverado Fire, a heartwarming video shows. — James Rogers, Fox News, "Owl rescued from Silverado Fire by Orange County firefighters," 28 Oct. 2020 Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, a barn owl has just eaten a mouse. — Washington Post, "The owl pellet economy: Meet the entrepreneurs who’ve devoted their lives to bird vomit," 26 Aug. 2020 Laboratory measurements have shown that the slight swoosh made by a barn owl is below the threshold of human hearing until the owl is about three feet away — a feat of stealth that biologists and engineers are far from completely understanding. — Dana Mackenzie, Smithsonian Magazine, "To Silence Wind Turbines and Airplanes, Engineers Are Studying Owl Wings," 15 Apr. 2020 The research group found that the cilia are notably absent from feathers of barn owls and nightjars, two species that stalk prey at night. — Jim Daley, Scientific American, "Winged “PigeonBot” Flies with Real Feathers," 10 Apr. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'barn owl.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

14 Dec 2020

Cite this Entry

“Barn owl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/barn%20owl. Accessed 27 Jan. 2021.

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