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iBarn Owl
Image:Barn-owl (Racheeo).jpg Tyto alba
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae Genus: Tyto
species
Greater Sooty-owl T. tenebricosa Lesser Sooty-owl T. multipunctata Australian Masked-owl T. novaehollandiae Golden Masked-owl T. aurantia Lesser Masked-owl T. sororcula Buru Masked-owl, T. (sororcula) cayelii (possibly extinct) Manus Masked-owl T. manusi Taliabu Masked-owl T. nigrobrunnea Minahassa Masked-owl T. inexspectata Sulawesi Owl T. rosenbergii Barn Owl, T. alba Eastern Barn Owl, T. (alba) delicatula Ashy-faced Owl, T. glaucops Madagascar Red Owl T. soumagnei African Grass-owl T. capensis Australasian Grass-owl T. longimembris For prehistoric and fossil species, see article.
Synonyms
Lechusa Miller, 1956

The genus Tyto (or subfamily Tytoninae) includes all Barn Owls (family Tytonidae), except for the Bay Owls (subfamily Phodilinae, genus Phodilus). They are darker on the back than the front, usually an orange-brown colour, the front being a paler version of the back or mottled, although there is considerable variation even amongst species. Tyto owls have a divided, heart-shaped facial disc, and lack the ear-like tufts of feathers found in many other owls. Tyto owls tend to be larger than Bay Owls.

Tyto owls have shown a better capability to colonize islands than true owls. Later, several of these island forms have become extinct, some long ago, but some in comparatively recent times. A number of these island barn owls, from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, were very large or truly gigantic species.

• Tyto gigantea (fossil; Late Miocene of Gargano Peninsula, Italy)
• Tyto robusta (fossil; Late Miocene of Gargano Peninsula, Italy)
• Tyto balearica (fossil; Late Miocene - Middle Pleistocene of WC Mediterranean) - includes T. sanctialbani
• Tyto mourerchauvireae (fossil; Middle Pleistocene of Sicily, Mediterranean)
• Tyto sp. 1 (fossil)
• Tyto sp. 2 (fossil)
• Puerto Rican Barn Owl, Tyto cavatica (prehistoric; Puerto Rico, West Indies) - may still have existed in 1912; possibly a subspecies of T. glaucops
• Noel's Barn Owl, Tyto noeli (prehistoric; Cuba, West Indies)
• Rivero's Barn Owl, Tyto riveroi (prehistoric; Cuba, West Indies)
• Cuban Barn Owl, Tyto sp. (prehistoric; Cuba, West Indies)
• Hispaniolan Barn Owl, Tyto ostologa (prehistoric; Hispaniola, West Indies)
• Bahaman Barn Owl, Tyto pollens (prehistoric; Andros, Bahamas)
• Mussau Barn Owl, Tyto cf. novaehollandiae (prehistoric; Mussau, Melanesia)
• New Ireland Greater Barn Owl, Tyto cf. novaehollandiae (prehistoric; New Ireland, Melanesia)
• New Ireland Lesser Barn Owl, Tyto sp. (prehistoric; New Ireland, Melanesia)
• New Caledonian Barn Owl, ?Tyto letocarti (prehistoric; New Caledonia, Melanesia)
• Malta Barn Owl, Tyto melitensis (prehistoric; Malta, Mediterranean)

[edit] References

• Bruce, M. D. (1999): Family Tytonidae (Barn-owls). In: del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A. & Sargatal, J. (eds): Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 5: Barn-owls to Hummingbirds: 34-75, plates 1-3. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. ISBN 84-87334-25-3

• Olson, Storrs L. (1985): Section IX, C. Strigiformes. In: Farner, D.S.; King, J.R. & Parkes, Kenneth C. (eds.): Avian Biology 8: 129-132. Academic Press, New York.nl:Tyto

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