A heart-shaped face, the flash of a white wing, and then nothing.

If you didn't actually see it, it would be hard to even know that this bird had even

passed you by.

Such is the stealthy and silent nature of its flight.

But if you did catch a glimpse of it, just out the corner of your eye, you'd be forgiven

for thinking that you'd just seen a rath or a ghostly shape of some kind glide by.

OK, I'm sure you've all got a pretty good idea of the bird I'm talking about.

The barn owl, or to give it its Latin scientific name, Taito Albert, which literally means

white owl, is one of over 200 species of owl that live on the planet today.

All owls are birds of prey, or raptors that prefer to hunt in low light using their

excellent vision, hearing, and ability to fly silently to ambush their prey.

The barn owl is possibly the most recognizable of them all, because, well, they have an

appearance that is just mesmerizing.

Their distinct, white, disc-shaped face, dark eyes and pale feathers almost make them

seem like an alien creature from another world.

Added to that, the way they sound isn't exactly the most comforting or soft hooting we

normally imagine when we think of owls.

Instead, what does come out is an eerie screeching call.

It's because of this and the fact that they tend to appear at night that barn owls have

been associated with folklore and superstition.

In Spain, it was thought that barn owls were evil spirits who drank the oil from church

lamps, leaving the poor saints in the dark.

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