A seasoned wildlife photographer, Brendon Clark, encountered a surprising sight during one of his recent outings. While searching for a long-eared owl in a Calgary park on November 20, Clark was startled to come across a barn owl, a species rarely seen in Alberta, let alone within Calgary city limits.
The barn owl, with its distinctive black eyes and beak, is not indigenous to Alberta and is typically found in limited regions of Ontario and British Columbia in Canada. Clark’s attention was drawn to the barn owl by a group of noisy ravens, signaling the presence of this uncommon bird.
Capturing a few photographs of the elusive barn owl, which had been at the top of his wildlife photography wish list, Clark described the encounter as surreal and akin to a movie scene. Another Calgary wildlife photographer, Jennil Modar, also witnessed the barn owl on the same day, emphasizing the rarity of the sighting.
Barn owls are rarely spotted in the Prairie provinces due to their intolerance to low temperatures, making it unlikely for them to survive winter conditions in the region. Known for their heart-shaped faces that aid in locating prey at night through sound collection, barn owls are proficient nocturnal hunters.
Considered an endangered species by the Canadian government, barn owls face threats primarily from habitat loss due to urbanization and agricultural expansion. Split into two classifications based on their population regions, the western barn owl population in British Columbia is classified as threatened, while the eastern population in Ontario is deemed endangered.
Estimates from NatureCounts, a biodiversity data platform managed by Birds Canada, suggest that only around 650 barn owls remain in the country. Colin Weir, the managing director of the Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation, highlighted the extreme rarity of barn owl sightings in Alberta, with the center having only received two wild barn owls in the past four decades.
Unlike migratory species, barn owls seldom venture far beyond their natural range, making sightings outside their usual territories exceptional occurrences. The preference of barn owls for nesting in old structures contributes to their habitat loss, a trend more pronounced in Alberta compared to Europe, where historical architecture favored by barn owls is often preserved.
In Europe, barn owls are commonly associated with churchyards and graveyards, earning them the monikers “graveyard owl” and “churchyard owl.” The distinctive nesting habits of barn owls make them susceptible to habitat destruction in regions like Alberta, where old structures are frequently replaced with new constructions.
