A male barn owl lands on a beam carrying a freshly caught vole in its beak. His rapidly growing chicks need lots of food. At the peak, he may bring as much as sixteen prey items into the nest in a single night. Thiérache, France.
Barn owls' wing feathers are specially adapted to muffle the sound of their flight. A comb-like structure breaks down turbulence in the air rushing over their wings, rendering their flight almost soundless.
A barn owl sails through the opening of an old barn.
