How to Use barn owl in a Sentence

barn owl

noun
  • That puts it at about the size of a barn owl.
    — Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 4 June 2026
  • Many owl species, like the barn owl, weigh less than two pounds.
    — Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi, Discover Magazine, 31 July 2023
  • Spot local heron species, barn owls, wood ducks and more.
    — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 9 Mar. 2026
  • And birds of prey like buzzards, sparrowhawks, barn owls, and tawny owls.
    — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The youngest is a barn owl that was found with bite marks on her after her nest was attacked.
    — Beth Lipoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Voles are a favorite meal for barn owls, which come in two shades, reddish brown and white.
    — James Gorman, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2019
  • Jian changmaensis was likely the size of a barn owl.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 4 June 2026
  • The nests barn owls build are rather unusual, Gillet said.
    — Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 17 Dec. 2025
  • Why were the barn owls able to maintain such acute hearing throughout their lives?
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 20 Sep. 2017
  • The cemetery is also home to barn owls, great horn owls, and eastern screech owls.
    — Maggie Menderski, The Courier-Journal, 10 June 2024
  • On the cover of Hold on Baby, she’s posed with a snowy barn owl.
    — Angie Martoccio, Rolling Stone, 2 June 2022
  • This program will include a trio of screech owls, a barn owl and a peregrine falcon.
    — Hartford Courant, 10 June 2022
  • This also will become the home for the screech owls, barn owls and burrowing owls.
    — Dana Oland, idahostatesman, 12 Mar. 2018
  • Students get to don thick leather gloves and let a Harris’ hawk, red tail hawk or barn owl land on their fists.
    — Vincent Crampton, OrlandoSentinel.com, 6 May 2018
  • The loss of both habitats spelled trouble for barn owls in Indiana.
    — Karl Schneider, IndyStar, 17 Dec. 2025
  • This could explain why white barn owls continue to have red counterparts.
    — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, 4 Sep. 2019
  • Carpenter failed to capture a barn owl, but nailed a raccoon fighting.
    — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 17 Dec. 2025
  • As the night unfolded, a barn owl flew silently by on its nocturnal hunting rounds.
    — San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2021
  • Both the barn owl and the center’s 14-year-old eastern screech owl were rescued as young animals.
    — Beth Lipoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Jan. 2026
  • The research group found that the cilia are notably absent from feathers of barn owls and nightjars, two species that stalk prey at night.
    — Jim Daley, Scientific American, 10 Apr. 2020
  • Getting to know the owls None of the birds at Ernie Miller has a name beyond its species, such as barn owl.
    — Beth Lipoff, Kansas City Star, 12 Jan. 2026
  • Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest, a barn owl has just eaten a mouse.
    — Washington Post, 26 Aug. 2020
  • In fact, many cultures associate the barn owl with superstition.
    — National Geographic, 31 Oct. 2020
  • Volunteer Jeanne Wadsworth brought out Tyton, a barn owl from Utah.
    — Denise Coffey, Courant Community, 29 May 2018
  • Israel is home to the densest barn owl population in the world, according to a statement.
    — Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Oct. 2023
  • Even a common species like the barn owl — found on every continent as well as remote islands — is a source of disagreement.
    — Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 19 Feb. 2024
  • Small owls like screech owls often sleep in tree cavities or nest boxes, while barn owls live up to their name by seeking out barns and empty buildings.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 2 Jan. 2026
  • Small owls like screech owls often sleep in tree cavities or nest boxes, while barn owls live up to their name by seeking out barns and empty buildings.
    — Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 13 Mar. 2026
  • Popular with farmers, barn owls feast mostly on rodents, swallowing them whole.
    — Ramon Padilla, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2024
  • The study authors believe a family of barn owls once lived in the cave and coughed up the bones of their prey, which eventually fossilized.
    — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 17 Dec. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'barn owl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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