Bay owls and barn owls | Tytonidae

Kerkuilen | Bay owls and barn owls | Lechuzas

The facial disc is heart-shaped and drawn down into a narrow point; the eyes are small and dark for an owl, the head is narrow and the legs are long and feathered to the toes. The inner toe is as long as the middle toe, and the claw of that middle toe carries a row of fine teeth used to comb the disc clean; the breastbone is fused with the wishbone. Hooting is absent: these birds hiss, snore and shriek. They hunt low and quartering over open rough ground, almost entirely on mice and shrews, and breed in a dark cavity in a building, cliff or tree; clutch size follows the rodent supply, so a good year can bring two broods and a poor one none at all.