A superb nightime hunter...

                                                                Photo: Peter Trimming / British Wildlife Centre

BARN OWL
(Tyto alba)

I was just flipping through my copy of Kenn Kaufman's Lives of North American Birds and came across his entry for Barn Owl.   For some reason I always thought the Barn Owl was a single species found in North America.   Thanks to Mr. Kaufmann, I now know Barn Owls are: "One of the most widespread of all 'landbirds', found on six continents and many islands".   Elsewhere I have learned there are two families of owls.   One family is the Barn Owl family, of which there are 16 species.   The second family is known as the True Owl family, of which there are nearly 220 living species.
Please comment if you wish.
BarrytheBirder