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Barn Owl


Barn Owl
Photo Information
Copyright: Karan Little (hester) Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1515 W: 18 N: 3165] (11638)
Genre: Animals
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2006-11-19
Categories: Birds
Camera: Canon 350D / Digital Rebel XT, Canon 17-85 USM IS
Exposure: f/7.1, 1/160 seconds
More Photo Info: [view]
Photo Version: Original Version, Workshop
Date Submitted: 2006-11-21 13:51
Viewed: 4248
Favorites: 2 [view]
Points: 40
[Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note
Like the Eagle Ow this Barn Owl is not wild. He belongs to a bird santuary. The bird santuary were raising funds at a local craft fair and had some owls with them. They kindly let me take a couple of pictures.

Barn Owl information from the BBC website:
Tyto alba
There are over 30 subspecies of barn owl, and with a few exceptions, they are distributed world-wide.

Statistics
Barn owls are about 34cm long, with a wingspan of 90cm. Males average about 300g, and females weigh an average of 362g.

Physical Description
With their large heart-shaped face, white under-parts and pale golden back and wings, barn owls look like ghostly apparitions at night.

Barn owls further north of Europe are a darker shade than the race found in the UK. The eyes are positioned on the front of the face, like most predators, to allow a good perception of depth and the ability to isolate prey.

Distribution
Barn owls are widely distributed, and range throughout Europe (except Scandinavia), southern Asia, Africa and parts of America and Australia.

Habitat
They nest in farm buildings as well as churches, sheds and natural holes in trees. They inhabit farmland and other open country with scattered trees.

Behaviour
Barn owls are typically nocturnal, although they can sometimes be spotted hunting during the day, especially when they have young to feed. They sometimes hunt birds, but mostly hunt small mammals, in particular, short-tailed voles, using sound to detect their prey.

The short feathers that form the facial disc enhance the barn owl's hearing by forming a groove, which helps direct sound waves to the ear opening.

Reproduction
Barn owls live alone or in pairs, and tend to mate for life. The female lays a clutch of 4-7 eggs in April to early May, which hatch after about 33 days. The male helps feed the young and the chicks can fly after 9-12 weeks. They sometimes breed twice a year.

Conservation status
Barn owls have declined in Britain, due in part to the reduction of derelict old buildings and due to the use of persistent pesticides, such as DDT, which prey consume, and eventually quantities build up in the predator, causing weak egg-shells.

The releasing of captive bred barn owls into the wild is illegal.

Barn owls are considered to be rare and are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981, under which it is an offence to intentionally disturb them while nesting. There are many conservation schemes to try to ensure that the feeding and nesting resources that the birds need are available. Barn owls are not listed in the 2000 IUCN Red List. Recent census work shows that the population has bottomed out in the last ten or fifteen years at about 4,400 pairs.

Voice
Barn owls do not hoot, instead they emit a long, eerie screech (hence its alternative name, the screech owl). They also hiss, snore and yap.
vanderschelden, horia, dew77, jeanpaul, Juyona, giacomosg, JORAPAVI, greenpinkorange, wallhalla15, Alex99, metcher, Signal-Womb, NellyD, valy67 has marked this note useful
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Critiques [Translate]

Hi Karan,
Compo is very good; good close up.
Bit of softness around the beak though ...a pity.
TFS
Annick

  • Great 
  • horia Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 2158 W: 224 N: 4749] (16656)
  • [2006-11-21 14:29]

Ohh...it's so cute!!!
Look at those big black eyes and the great contrast they make with those fluffy white feathers!
Excellent shot, Karan!
The lighting is excellent here and also the metering is great.
Very nice POV and composition, too.

Bravo and TFS
horia

thats a jolly shot of this creature...i would like to see some catchlights...a white hanky does the job..not flash of course
and i bet it could go sharper...although its the eyes that are more important...so if they are sharp then its more dof you may need to introduce..
brilliant close up
cheers
geof

  • Great 
  • dew77 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4432 W: 248 N: 4028] (13270)
  • [2006-11-21 15:15]

Hello karan,
Funny face.I liked POV,eye contact,details,tight framing and composition a lot.
TFS...:-)

Salut Karan
Magnifique photo que ce joliportrait de ce beau hibou qui semble te fixer.J'aime beaucouo tous les détails ainsi que la présentation qui est trčs belle.
Merci et au revoir....JP

  • Great 
  • Juyona Gold Star Critiquer/Silver Workshop Editor [C: 2232 W: 10 N: 2971] (16891)
  • [2006-11-21 16:08]

Hola Karan, un gran retrato de este original ave... buena textura y encuadre, muchos saludos

great portrait.
very good job.
Giacomo

Hola Karan,
Vaya cara más simpática, es un buen primer plano con mucho detalle y agradable textura. Saludos

  •      
  • Lycaon Silver Star Critiquer [C: 45 W: 7 N: 31] (114)
  • [2006-11-22 1:57]

Light and foucus suboptimal. Cropping might also have been a tad less tight.

This extreme closeup shot is good. I can see good details of the face. Agree with annick, the beak is a little soft, or it would have been a perfect picture.
Steph

Hello Karan,
this is a great portrait shot from the Eagle owl. I like it very much. Great sharpness, details and very nice colours. This is a great composition. Thank you for posting.
Gr.
Heinz

Hello Karan,
This is soooo close again! I like this centered compo and I think that details are OK (but they could be a little sharper). Good natural colors and interesting notes. Well done :-)
Claudine

Hi Karan,
I like this fluffy heart shaped face a lot :) Nice shot, a bit too close though, but it is still great picture.
Greetings,
Vanilla

  • Great 
  • Alex99 Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 4072 W: 133 N: 7096] (23735)
  • [2006-11-22 9:59]

Hi Karan.
Beautiful and art soft portrait with amazing cropping and very delicate colour palette. My compliments and best regards.
Alexei.

Hi Karan, great portrait, beautiful details, good composition, well done, ciao Silvio

Muy buenas Hester
Menudos retratos que estas realizando, muy buenos, mis felcitaciones.
Un saludo,
Jorge

Lovely owl portrait. Good exposure and details.

Another fine shot Karan, this time with good eye contact. Is this a close crop or the original composition. Again good detail in the pens. Iv never seen the Barn Owl, Id love to see any kind of Owl when I'm out hiking. Well done.

  • Great 
  • NellyD Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Note Writer [C: 237 W: 0 N: 445] (1783)
  • [2006-11-26 10:44]

Hi Karan,

This is an excellent closeup.
A beautiful, sweet and funny face.
I like the composition, colours,details and sharpness very much. Good framing too.
TFS

Greetings, Nel

Hello karan !
Excellent close-up on this beautiful face, it has the shape of a heart, I love it. I also like those intense dark eyes. Beautiful colors and excellent tight cropping. Very well done !
Valerie.

  • Great 
  • arfer Gold Star Critiquer [C: 2731 W: 0 N: 0] (0)
  • [2006-12-05 22:40]

Hello Karan

I think these owls have very interesting faces.Your portrait is very well done.Very good POV and DOF.The plumage is in fine detail.Excellent eye contact.A nice tight crop really puts emphasis on the face.A very nice owl collection you have posted.TFS

Rob

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