Most people, including myself, have a very distinct idea of what owls are, and how they behave. As I look around my room, owls of every shape, color, and purpose surround me. I have owl hooks, figurines, and paintings. The owl is the symbol of my sorority, and it was chosen to represent wisdom. I was ecstatic when owl items started to become more popular in retail stores. Yet I realized, while the owl is abundant in stores across Illinois, I have never seen this wise animal in real life. Illinois once had an abundance of the Barn Owl, and now it struggles to maintain a population at all. As I looked into the once abundant birds, I realized that Barn Owls are as unique as they are admired.

Found across every continent (except Antarctica), the Barn Owl has proven its ability to adapt to a wide range of climates and habitat. The habitat it occupies in Illinois is mostly in southern Illinois; it includes grasslands, forests, agricultural fields, woodlots, and fields (All About Birds). A very secretive bird, it nests in empty crevices such as cliffs, hallow trees, and old barns. However, since barns have changed from the classic wooden structure to the cold, shiny metal, the number of barn nesters has decreased (Barn Owl). At the same time, their need in barns has not diminished. Growing up near a barn, Karly Anderson (now a Kappa) knows first hand how helpful these owls are to farmers looking to keep rodents away. “While the owls could sometimes be intimidating, there was always a mutual understanding that these large birds were keeping the barn clear of mice. This was job I had no problem sharing.”

Every home needs a mothers touch, and a nest is no exception. A female will make a nest not out of hard, pointy sticks, but out of the pellets she coughs up. The pellets are shredded with the bird’s long sharp talons and then arranged into a cup. Once the nest is prepared, and the eggs are laid, it is up to the father to bring home the bacon, or mice as they prefer (All About Birds).

A mouse within a Barn Owl’s territory has almost no chance of escape. The owl’s prey can scurry, scamper, or squeeze through any shrub it wants to hide in. It will be found. An undisturbed circle silhouettes the barn owl’s head. Smooth and deadly, the ears are hidden in the feathers as they listen for their next meal among the grasses. The left ear, slightly higher than the right one, is positioned with a slight tilt downward. The lower right ear is tilted upward. This predator advantage allows the owl to distinguish between sounds that occur above it, and sounds that are generated below its flight pattern (Barn Owl Biology). The ability to focus solely on sounds below, and determine which direction it comes from, makes escape for any detected prey and impossible dream.

Any rodent avoiding mealtime might hope to remain completely silent and still. This would be a false hope. Black eyes present a stark contrast to the white feathers that fill the face. When its eyes are fully open, it has a look of innocent inquiry.   When they are squinting, giving an upward slant to the blackness, it stares as if it knows something you don’t. The owl’s expressive eyes have excellent sight at night as it swoops down toward the mouse (All About Birds).

Equally as impressive as its ability to catch prey, the owl has evolved to avoid the animals that see it as food. Its back and wings are a mix of beautiful burnt orange, white, and brown. The short tail feathers curve slightly up, emphasizing the dramatic curve and fullness of the chest. The colors blend with the dried out grasses it hunts in most of the year. From above the owl becomes part of the landscape. From below it becomes part of the sky. The white chest is not covered in only a small number of striking features like the face. It is covered with many small dots of red, which go almost unnoticed in the white feathers if not looked at closely. The white is hard to detect against bright skies during the day (The Barn Owl Trust).

The owl has represented my sorority for over 150 years, and it has demonstrated wisdom in America for even longer. Unfortunately, the barn owl is now endangered in Illinois. This beautiful bird deserves to thrive in its natural habitat. Its striking features should not be lost. It would be a sad loss for Illinois if this animal were lost to the prairie state.