Monks Eleigh, Suffolk, England

For many years the Common Barn-owl was probably the most widespread owl and was treated as a highly variable cosmopolitan species found in all continents apart from Antarctica. Recently DNA evidence has led to it being divided up into 3 main groups: Western Barn Owl Tyto alba; American Barn Owl Tyto furcata and Eastern Barn Owl Tyto javanica. See the distribution map for Western Barn Owl at xeno-canto.

It is found in a variety of habitats and, as its name implies, frequently roosts and nests in isolated buildings in villages and towns.