Windows Spotlight

select language: DE-DE EN-AU EN-CA EN-GB EN-IN EN-NZ EN-US ES-AR ES-ES ES-MX FR-CA FR-FR IT-IT JA-JP PT-BR ZH-CN DE-AT DE-BE DE-CH DE-DE ES-ES FR-BE FR-FR IT-IT NL-BE NL-NL DE-AT DE-BE DE-CH DE-DE EN-AU EN-CA EN-GB EN-IN EN-NZ EN-US ES-AR ES-ES ES-MX FR-BE FR-CA FR-FR IT-IT JA-JP NL-BE NL-NL PT-BR ZH-CN DE-AT DE-BE DE-CH DE-DE ES-ES FR-BE FR-FR IT-IT NL-BE NL-NL

Barn owl, Czechia
A wide-ranging raptor
This barn owl doesn't give a hoot – and we mean that literally. Instead of the gentle "who-who" call of many owls, barn owls emit a hair-raising screech, leading some cultures to shun the birds as bad omens. That's no superstition if you happen to be a small mammal. Not only do barn owls have excellent hearing and sight, making them ultra-precise night predators, they're also found on all continents except Antarctica. Even still, well-lit sightings like this are uncommon – though some barn owl populations have even adapted to hunt during the day. Jeez, can a scurrying rodent catch a break?

As one of the most widespread birds, the barn owl can be found on every continent except Antarctica.