For birds, young barn owls are dependent upon their parents for a rather long time. From egg laying to becoming fully independent requires over three months although second broods are sometimes begun before young of the first are independent. There is a distinct division of labor in nesting by this species. Males are then joined by their mates in capturing prey for the young. Thus, both parents are essential and nesting will fail if either adult dies.
Birds normally make up only a small percent of the diet.
Barn owls, like many other birds, swallow prey whole. The excellent night vision of owls is well known, but there are circumstances in nature when even the visual adaptations of owls would not be able to detect small, concealed prey. Relatively recently it was discovered that barn owls can locate and capture prey acoustically, allowing them to take prey in very dark conditions or under vegetation and snow.2 The silent flight of owls, also well known to most people, must now be reevaluated in terms of the owl's auditory prey detection. Long thought to be useful in preventing the owl's prey from hearing the approaching predator, it is now believed that quiet flight may be at least as useful in preventing interference with the owl's own hearing for prey detection. Barn owls are rather sedentary birds and no truly migratory populations are known.