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The UK Bird Atlas

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks January to February · Bay Owls and Barn Owls · BOU category AE*F

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)
User:Alun Williams333, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Barn Owl: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Barn Owl has been recorded in 2,049 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (69%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in January to February.

Conservation status: Not Evaluated (IUCN Red List, NE)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
100% or more of visits
High
21% to 100%
Moderate
3% to 21%
Low
under 3%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 95%2%Very high
February 100%2%Very high
March 72%2%Very high
April 61%1%Very high
May 70%2%Very high
June 81%2%Very high
July 70%2%Very high
August 38%<1%Very high
September 33%<1%Very high
October 52%1%Very high
November 53%1%Very high
December 63%1%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in January

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C90Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J16Lisburn and Castlereagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J21Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J46Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J56Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J57Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland100%Very high
NC50Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH74Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH75Highland, Scotland100%Very high
NH76Highland, Scotland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.