This Barn Owl was sitting in a date palm at the intersection of Santa Fe and Ward Ave. where first reported on 23 May by Christine Koundakjian. The site is within a few feet of the Alameda County line. The high angle, deep shade and dense habitat made photography a major challenge.
Barn Owls are highly variable with underparts anywhere from white to cinnamon. This is a white morph bird, most of which are said to be males. The edges of the facial disk feathers appear to be curled up and a gap between the feathers above the bill is evident.
Numerous subspecies have been recognized around the world. Birds from mainland North America are assigned to T. a. pratincola
Barn Owls are famous for their keen hearing and are known to be able to catch rodents in complete darkness.
Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LZ5 | Nikon FieldScope 3 | 30X WA | hand-held (no adapter)