The Barn Owl is a nocturnal raptor measuring nearly 40 cm, with a wingspan of nearly a metre. It has a characteristic face, heart-shaped, white plumage on its breast and mottled yellow-brown on its back and wings. Its legs are feathered right down to its claws. The wing-feathers have a flexible edge and sound-absorbent down, in such a way that it flies noiseless and thus surprises its prey, essentially small rodents. Highly useful in countrysides, this bird however has had a bad reputation in the past; its disturbing appearance, its hoots and its nocturnal activity in attics and bell-towers frightened the credulous and the Barn Owl was thought to be a harbinger of misfortune: in order to dispel that bad augur, they used to be killed and nailed to barn doors – not so long ago by the way… Sedentary, the Barn Own spends the winter without migrating. It nests on the ground or in niches of towers and barns, laying from 4 to 13 eggs which hatch after approximately two weeks; the older chicks have often been observed to feed their leftovers to the younger ones, which is rare among birds.