Male Barn Owls are generally paler and females darker, but they can be very variable. Usually, about 90% of UK Barn Owls can be sexed by their feathers. Here are some typical Barn Owl colourations – and some less typical variations between the sexes.
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- About 90% of UK Barn Owls can be sexed by their feathers. Males are generally paler and females darker.
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- At about 33 days old the underwing covers begin to unfurl. Black spots normally mean it’s a female.
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- The tails of two nestlings: darker female on the left, extremely pale male on the right.
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- Fledgling on the right is female with its buff coloured throat and black spots on it’s flanks.
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- The one on the left has spots on its flanks so it’s almost certainly female. The middle one has the darkest buff-coloured throat so that’s probably female too. The one on the right could be a male.
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- This is a proven male. Note the very pale colouration especially the tail.
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- Underside of the same male. Note the total lack of little black spots.
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- No spots and very pale – it must be a male.
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- BUT: Some males do have spots on their flanks! This is a proven male that we radio tracked.
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- Top side of the same proven male – the dark barring is normally indicative of a female.
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- A proven female showing a typical amount of spotting (from chest across to carpal joint).
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- Top side of the same proven female – darker buff and heavier black barring than the male.
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- Another female – although not as dark as the previous photo.
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- A white throat and unspotted chest suggests male. But the spots on the flanks say ‘female’. This is one of the c. 10% that cannot be sexed on feather colouration alone.
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- This is a proven male of the European subspecies Tyto alba guttata. Interbreeding with UK Tyto alba alba birds can result in heavily spotted and/or dark-breasted males that are UK-hatched.
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